Brandon Triche and Michael Carter-Williams turned in nearly identical numbers in leading Syracuse against St. John’s on Sunday.

They set the tone on both ends of the court in the dominant 19-point victory, harassing the Red Storm guards at the top of the zone, knocking down open jumpers and feeding their teammates with precise passes.

The senior finished with 16 points, seven assists and a steal, while the sophomore registered 17 points, eight assists and six steals.

“I thought Brandon and Michael played well,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “I thought this was their best game in a long time that they were good on defense, good on offense.”

On defense, they were active and opportunistic, keeping their hands in the passing lanes and pressuring guards in their area.

Six-plus minutes into the game, the back-court duo combined to force a St. John’s turnover that led to an easy bucket on the break.

Red Storm forward JaKarr Sampson held the ball in the left corner with nowhere to go. He looked to swing the ball back around the perimeter, but Triche denied the pass to guard D’Angelo Harrison on the wing. Sampson thought he had an opening to reach teammate Sir’Dominic Pointer at the top of the key. But that’s when Carter-Williams pounced in front and took off with the steal.

The 6-foot-6 point guard dribbled down court with his left hand before switching to his right for an easy finger roll as Harrison flew by for a failed steal attempt.

Syracuse took a 16-8 lead that soon expanded to 21-10 after a 3-pointer and assist by Triche. Another 3 by Triche off of a feed from Carter-Williams closed the half with the Orange up by 13.

“We were just flowing and finding our open teammates and they were knocking down shots,” Carter-Williams said.

While both scored and distributed the ball effectively, Triche was more impressed with the tandem’s low turnover total. The guards combined for just five turnovers, giving them a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

After a pair of turnovers by the guards in a 13-second span in the opening minutes, both settled in.

Carter-Williams drilled a 3 off of a pass from Triche on the ensuing possession, inciting a fist pump from Boeheim as he urged Carter-Williams to get locked in heading down the court.

He and Triche did that as the team’s catalysts, powering an offense with four players in double figures while helping put Baye Moussa Keita in position for eight points on 4-for-4 shooting.

With the guards playing this way, Syracuse will continue to click as conference play continues.

“They both played well,” Jerami Grant said. “Brandon played a great game. Mike played a great game – to get a contribution from them like that, we’re definitely going to be hard to beat going forward.”

Published on February 10, 2013 at 9:22 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu