Michael Gbinije coasted down the court and threw home a windmill slam dunk. Chinonso Obokoh, sitting on a career-high nine points of his own, stood at the opposite foul line and held both hands in the air.

Syracuse led by 28 against one of the worst teams in Division I and a game that started off sluggish for the Orange was now anything but.

Using a 51-point second half, SU (9-3) overcame a rocky first-half shooting performance to blow out Montana State (5-7), 82-60 in the Carrier Dome. Five different orange scored in double figures, including Obokoh, Dajuan Coleman and Tyler Lydon, as Syracuse dominated a physically inferior team down low.

The Orange trudged through a first half in which it shot 3-of-13 from behind the arc and 11-of-31 overall. A decided size advantage inside against a far inferior Montana State team wasn’t being exploited, apart from the occasional drive, draw a foul and finish at the rim routine SU executed twice.

Still, the Orange carried a 14-point lead into halftime as the Bobcats weren’t much better. One of the worst teams in Division I, luckily for Syracuse, couldn’t take advantage of an SU team flashing the weaknesses that have put it behind this season.

Syracuse began the second half 5-of-7 from the field, courtesy of three Coleman buckets down low. Montana State hit a trio of deep balls before the under-16 timeout itself, but the Orange, via its recuperating big man, found the formula to keep the Bobcats out of reach before pulling away.

The seemingly inevitable Syracuse blowout was finally gaining traction as Gbinije caught fire from deep and Frank Howard attacked the rim for an and-one of his own. Trevor Cooney’s 3 with 12:24 left broke the Carrier Dome’s lull and forced a Montana State timeout. The rout was on as the Orange led by 24.

Syracuse coasted to the finish, with its backups owning the latter part of the second half before the walk-ons took over. Freshman Ky Feldman laid in a contested shot with 1.3 seconds left and the crowd exploded, as Syracuse cruised into Christmas on a high.

Published on December 22, 2015 at 9:04 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman