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Fast Five: The Key Takeaways From Syracuse's ACC Opener

The Syracuse Orange survived a second half scare from Virginia Tech and held on for a 68-66 win on Saturday in the opener of ACC play.  Here are five key takeaways from Syracuse's win that nearly wasn't.

Free-Throw Shooting

The Hokies certainly heated up on the last few possessions, but the Orange didn't do itself any favors at the free throw line.  The Orange shot a dreadful 6-15 at the line in the last two minutes, culminating in an unnecessarily dramatic finish.  If you think it's an anomaly, well, think again.  Coming into the day, Syracuse went 60 percent from the charity stripe in the last five minutes of games this season. That's significantly lower than the 66 percent mark that Syracuse shoots as a team.   After Michael Gbinije's miss with 26 seconds left, Ron Patterson missed three of four to open up the game.

"Those two guys are good free throw shooters," Boeheim said.  "We got to make them in those situations."

But Patterson, nearly the scapegoat of a team wide collapse, had never attempted a free throw in a game this season before.

A Tale of Two Halves for Christmas

The Orange exploded early in the game and led, 42-23, at intermission after one of the best offensive halves of the season.  A big reason for that was senior center Rakeem Christmas, who had ten points by halftime on 4-7 shooting.  Christmas caught a break by not having to face Virginia Tech's best rebounder, Joey van Zegeren, who was suspended this week.  He also benefited from foul trouble on the the Hokies forwards, who either had to come out of the game or play conservative defensively.

It would make sense for Syracuse to exploit that advantage as the game went on.  But, instead, Christmas only had two field goal attempts in the first 12 minutes of the second half. 

"We knew they would front in the low post and make it difficult in there and they did that," Boeheim said.  "When we did get it to Rak, he finished. He missed a couple that he's been making, but it was hard to get him the ball."

It's hard to say whether that's on SU's guards for not working the ball inside enough or on Christmas for not being assertive enough.  What's clear, though, is that Syracuse needs to do a better job at incorporating its best scorer in key moments to prevent a repeat of Saturday's near-collapse.

Cooney Cooled

Like Christmas, Trevor Cooney also cooled off in the second half.  He broke out for 14 points by halftime and then shot just 1-9 in the second half.  Cooney's been asked to shoulder a lot of the offensive load this season and he's taken more shots than anyone else on the team.  He never came out of the game, making it the sixth time this season playing 40 minutes (or more), including an overtime loss against Villanova.  But late in the game, his drives just weren't as crisp and his shots fell a little short.   

Roberson's Rebounds

With forward Chris McCullough relegated to the bench again, it was Tyler Roberson who stepped up in the paint and on the glass.  Roberson tied a career high with 17 rebounds and scored 11 points.  He's been a secondary option for most of the year, but he can score in a number of ways.  He runs the floor well and scored on a 2-on-1 and showed off his soft shooting touch with a baseline jumper on another possession.

Fewer Turnovers

Syracuse was more disciplined with the ball than it has been almost all year.  The Orange turned the ball over just eight times, just two short of a season best.  It was a considerable improvement from last time out, a 14 turnover performance to the Cornell Big Red.  

It hasn't only been the volume of turnovers that has plagued Syracuse this season, but the timing of them.  A botched inbounds play near the end of regulation allowed Villanova to complete a late comeback.  In this game, Syracuse didn't turn the ball over once during the final five minutes and it helped avert another meltdown.   

"I think the Villanova game helped us," Boeheim said.  "We got it inbounds. We didn't turn it over and hopefully, we'll make those free throws next time and make it easier."