After losing its last two games, both outside of the Carrier Dome, Syracuse found comfort again on its home floor. No. 22 SU (5-2) barely slipped past North Florida, 77-71, snapping a two-game losing skid and gaining some traction before hitting the road again to play Connecticut on Monday in Madison Square Garden.

Here are three takeaways to the Orange’s win.

Starting fresh

Some of the game’s biggest news came before the opening tipoff. After starting 58 consecutive games, Tyler Roberson was replaced by Tyus Battle in the starting lineup. Roberson averaged 12 points per game in SU’s first four contests before scoring one point in 34 minutes across the team’s last two games.

The move injected some youth in the Orange’s veteran-laden lineup, bumpingAndrew White to the three and Tyler Lydon to the four. There was no immediate difference in the way Syracuse operated. White still hit plenty of 3s and Lydon, who worked much closer to the basket, struggled to score. He shot 2-of-9 from the field to notch six points.

Battle, conversely, posted his first career double-digit total on the score sheet. He shot 86 percent and made good on his 36 minutes on the court. To start the second half, Battle stole a deep inbound pass from the Ospreys. He streaked down the court and slammed it down, much to the pleasure of a standing Carrier Dome crowd.

Running the show, again

Andrew White continued to show he’s the steadiest hand Syracuse has on offense. The fifth-year senior dropped in a season-high 26 points, 21 from behind the arc. While none of his teammates could muster more than five points in the first half, White scored 15 and shot 5-of-8 from 3.

He was the team’s leading scorer for the fifth time in seventh games. It’s a good sign for White, who will look toward the NBA after this season, but a troubling trend for SU. White entered the afternoon already having scored 20 percent of the Orange’s points, and that total only increased after he accounted for 34 percent of SU’s points on Saturday.

Perhaps the biggest knock on White this season is his second-half drop off. Twice this year he’s led the Orange in points without scoring in the second half, including his 14-point night against Wisconsin on Tuesday. Against North Florida, he wasted no time as the second half began. He rattled home a free throw after being fouled on his first shot of the half, then sank his sixth 3 on an open look to give Syracuse a 40-23 advantage. In total, White scored 12 in the second half.

Boarded up

Syracuse was OK containing the Ospreys from the field. The visitors shot 39.7 percent. But what’s troubling for SU is that North Florida got plenty of its missed shots back, 17 to be exact. The Orange only managed to corral nine offensive rebounds and was outrebounded entirely, 41-33, by North Florida.

The Orange entered the day with the second-lowest defensive rebound percentage in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and Saturday didn’t make it any better. Romelo Banks and Wajid Aminu led the way for the Ospreys, nabbing 10 boards apiece. Both players burned the likes of Lydon, Roberson, Taurean Thompson and Dajuan Coleman under the basket, and found open space to get longer rebounds.

With North Florida creeping to within single digits of Syracuse on the scoreboard, Nick Malonga patrolled out near the arc to grab a loose rebound. That led to White fouling Wajid under the basket and gifting two free throws to the Ospreys.

Published on December 3, 2016 at 6:07 pm

Contact Connor: cgrossma@syr.edu | @connorgrossman