Michael Gbinije pounded his dribble at the top of the key as the first-half clock wound down. When it hit four seconds, Gbinije shook his torso to try and get space against the 6-foot-2 Robert Hatter. But Hatter poked the ball, forcing the 6-foot-7 point guard to bobble it before hoisting an off-balance 3 at the buzzer.

“Damn man!” Gbinije yelled to himself after the shot rimmed out, and it was a rare flash of frustration for a player who’d had everything going for him this season.

But for the first 20 minutes on Saturday, Cornell limited Gbinije by double-teaming him off every ball screen. Hatter, giving up 5 inches, pestered him all over the court. It led him to walk into the locker room with a scowl on his face, and come out of it with a refocused mindset of distributing the ball instead of scoring it.

As a result, Gbinije didn’t lead the Orange (8-3) in scoring for just the second time in 11 games. Instead he complemented a season-low 12 points by tying a career-high with eight assists. In the second half, Gbinije’s five assists equaled his number of field-goal attempts and Syracuse pulled away from Cornell (5-5) for a 67-46 win in the Carrier Dome.

The fifth-year senior also finished with seven rebounds, putting together his most complete line of the season despite his worst shooting display since SU’s season-opening win over Lehigh in which he shot an identical 3-for-15 from the field and 2-for-9 from 3.

“There are pros and cons to everything,” Gbinije said. “I don’t want to get double-teamed, but at the same time I got two on me and there’s definitely somebody open. You just have to find them.”

On the Orange’s first possession of the game, Gbinije came around a ball screen from Tyler Roberson and was met by the outstretched arms of 6-foot-7 forward Jordan Abdur-Ra’oof. The next time down, Gbinije got a high screen from Dajuan Coleman and Cornell center David Onuorah jumped out to double team. Coleman rolled to the basket and, after collecting a lob pass from Gbinije, laid in two at the rim.

After another Coleman bucket a few possessions later, the Big Red defense doubled Gbinije and packed its three other players in the paint to stymie the pick-and-roll. That gave the Orange open looks on the perimeter, but Trevor Cooney and Malachi Richardson shot a combined 1-for-6 on first-half 3s. Gbinije went 2-for-6 to put the team’s halftime total at 3-for-12.

Heading into the break, Cornell trailed 30-26 despite making just four of its 16 3-point attempts. After the break, Gbinije absorbed the increased pressure and his teammates stepped up accordingly.

“When a guy becomes elite status their whole game plans are designed to stop him,” SU interim coach Mike Hopkins said of Gbinije. “That’s why it’s so important for the Malachis, and the Trevors, and the Tyler Lydons, and the Robersons, and the Colemans, and the (Frank) Howards, and the (Kaleb) Josephs, and the (Chinonso) Obokohs.

“That the key, you have to have those guys stepping up and making plays.”

Hopkins ran Gbinije off more baseline screens in the second, which made it harder for Cornell to double and easier for him to create for his teammates. Cooney snapped an 0-for-11 3-point shooting slump by hitting three straight 3s. Roberson scored nine second-half points. Richardson missed his only 3 attempt in the second, but scored eight by attacking the rim.

Gbinije, the only Syracuse player to score in double-figures in every game this season, was left with just four points in the closing frame. He came into the game averaging 19.8 points a game, good for third in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but his team was at its best Saturday when he was looking to do everything but score.

“I didn’t know that was going to happen today,” Gbinije said of how Cornell played him. But he also knows it won’t be the last time this season that a team gets creative to shut him down, and how he handles that will be reflected in the Orange’s results.

Published on December 19, 2015 at 4:03 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse