Syracuse (9-3) beat Montana State (5-7), 82-60,  in the Carrier Dome on Monday. The result pushed Mike Hopkins’ head coaching record to 3-2, and it’s the first time he’s been over .500.

Here are three quick observations from the game.

1. Career night

Although SU was playing Montana State, whose two biggest players were rarely on the court at the same time, Chinonso Obokoh had the best game of his season and career. While Tyler Lydon struggled defensively on the low block — he did have four blocks against the smaller opponent — Obokoh helped pick up a bit of the slack.

On the offensive end, the center scored a career-high 11 points and collected six boards in just 12 minutes of game action. He had one point all season before SU played the Bobcats, and 11 career points before the game.

2. From the jump

Syracuse starting center Dajuan Coleman opened up the first half and second half strong for Syracuse. Although SU couldn’t close out Montana State in the first half, Coleman’s boost out of the gate in the second helped SU pull away. Eleven of the junior’s 13 total points came before the under-16 media timeout in either half. Coleman made all five of his shots, all three of his free throws and chipped in four boards in just 12 minutes of action.

Although he sat most of the second half, Coleman’s seven second-half points helped SU open up a 58-34 advantage before crunch time.

3. Looking inside 

Syracuse really showed a lack of killer instincts in the first half against Montana State. SU squandered some chances at the line, drilling just 6-of-10 from the charity stripe. 

In several games this season, the Orange has played catchup, especially in recent losses against St. John’s and Georgetown. SU looked like it was on its way to putting its foot on Montana State’s proverbial throat a few times in the first half, but just couldn’t because of an inability to hit open shots from the perimeter.

The Orange shot just 3-of-13 from deep in the opening frame. But in the second half, SU muscled its way into the paint against a physically outmatched Montana State team and closed out the contest. SU’s bigs scored 39 total points, nearly half of the team’s output. SU shot 68 percent from inside the 3-point arc in the second half.

Published on December 22, 2015 at 9:08 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati