Even though Michael Carter-Williams had another solid game coming off the bench, there was one play that his teammates made sure he heard about after the game.

Dion Waiters found him with a behind-the-back pass on a fast break and the freshman was completely alone in front of the rim. He went up for the two-handed slam, but the ball rattled out.

‘I didn’t think he was going to pass me the ball,’ Carter-Williams said. ‘I didn’t even think he saw me. I owe him one though. That was on me.’

Carter-Williams had to do push-ups in the locker room after the game, but that one blooper didn’t completely overshadow another solid performance by the young guard Thursday in SU’s 80-61 win over Tulane at the Carrier Dome. With junior Brandon Triche battling a thumb injury, the freshman played 18 minutes, finishing with seven points, three assists and two rebounds.

‘It’s nice to be out there and play and have some extra minutes and have them get rest,’ Carter-Williams said. ‘I know the Big East is coming up and we’re going to need them to be 100 percent.’

The freshman was able to create for himself off the dribble. His first bucket came in the first half on a drive from the left side of the court, all the way around the perimeter to the right side of the hoop for a lay-in.

He didn’t score again until the second half, but both of his field goals after halftime came on off-balance floaters. He was called for a charge on the first, but the basket still counted. On the second, he lobbed up a shot that dropped from the free-throw line with the shot clock winding down.

The freshman also didn’t turn the ball over and got some praise from Orange head coach Jim Boeheim after the game.

‘He’s getting an opportunity,’ Boeheim said. ‘I thought tonight he did a good job getting the ball to the basket and making good decisions.’

Tomaszewski still perfect

Kris Joseph knows who he wants in the game if the Orange ever need a late 3-pointer.

‘If ever there’s a situation where we’re down two with like three seconds left,’ Joseph said with just a hint of sarcasm, ‘(Matt Tomaszewski) is the guy.’

Tomaszewski was the first walk-on into the game for SU and entered the contest shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from deep on his career. The senior put that on the line with 1:40 left in the action.

He jacked the seventh 3-pointer of his career from the right wing. It hit rim and looked like it might rattle out, but eventually dropped to keep the 6-foot-8 forward perfect from beyond the arc.

When asked about the walk-on after the game, a big smile spread across Boeheim’s face.

Said Boeheim: ‘Yeah he can shoot, can’t he?’

Onto the Big East

For the third straight year, Syracuse finished its nonconference schedule with a perfect record. But Boeheim wasn’t ready to put too much weight into that accomplishment after Thursday’s win.

‘We’ve got good players and they’ve played well when they needed to,’ he said. ‘Most of the good teams are either undefeated or lost one game right now so it’s nothing really unusual when you look around the country.’

Still, the Orange has ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the country thanks to its undefeated record. And although most of the wins have been easy, SU feels that it accomplished its goals prior to Big East play.

Aside from a six-point win over Marshall, Syracuse blew out all of the mid-major teams it faced through 13 games. It also captured the NIT Season Tip-off title with tight wins over Virginia Tech and Stanford in Madison Square Garden. And the biggest win for the Orange so far this year when it knocked off No. 11 Florida in the Dome.

‘It’s nice to get to this point and not have a loss,’ Joseph said. ‘We had two or three games that could have gone the other way very easily, and we played well down the stretch in those games, which is great. Once the conference comes up, the competition steps way, way up. I think we’re prepared for that.’

zjbrown@syr.edu

Published on December 22, 2011 at 12:00 pm