On a Syracuse team with depth Jim Boeheim raved about before the season, and even during it, it’s been Andrew White as the only consistent scorer. Saturday was the latest chapter in the graduate transfer’s rampage through opposing defenses, and his early fireworks gave the Orange enough of a cushion to avoid catastrophe at the end.

White set up shop behind the 3-point arc in the first half, salvaging a Syracuse offense that couldn’t get much going outside him at the start. His five first-half 3s came one game after he hit four in the opening 20 minutes against Wisconsin, further showing he’s the Orange’s go-to scorer for the time being.

The Nebraska transfer finished with a season-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field, including a 7-for-13 clip from beyond the arc. He’s the only player to score in double digits in each of the Orange’s seven games, and his latest proficiency highlighted a 77-71 win for No. 22 Syracuse (5-2) over North Florida (3-7) at the Carrier Dome on Saturday evening.

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“They played a zone and if you move the ball in the zone, it’s impossible not to get an open shot at some point,” White said. “Coach just gives me the green light.”

As the beneficiary of slick ball movement by point guard Frank Howard, who tallied a career-high 13 assists, White canned two 3s to begin the game and give the Orange an early 6-2 lead. Just like he kept Syracuse afloat in the first half against Wisconsin, White kept the hosts at a comfortable distance from Dallas Moore (who finished with 30 points) and the Ospreys with another hot streak from deep.

White went 5-for-8 from 3 in the first half, which accounted for all 15 of his points at the break, guiding SU to an 11-point halftime lead. As he did against Wisconsin, White took advantage of rapid ball movement rather than creating his own shot. Rarely has he needed to make space on his own since it’s already there.

“They collapsed a lot,” Howard said, “so I just want to get in there and make plays for everybody.”

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But with Tyler Lydon struggling from the field and Tyus Battle taking time to catch fire, only White capitalized early on the plays that were also there for his teammates. Lydon shot 2-of-9 from the field and Battle took only two shots in the first half, so White once again shouldered the brunt of Syracuse’s offensive load by taking more than half of Syracuse’s first-half 3-pointers.

To begin the second half, White varied his arsenal with buckets in transition, from the short corner out of a half-court set and from the foul line. But right after UNF’s Nick Malonga hit a 3 right in White’s face to cut SU’s lead to 11 with 5:54 left, White returned the favor at the other end to stretch the lead back to 14.

“Obviously Andrew, we got some good looks,” Boeheim said. “He can shoot it.”

For the remaining five-plus minutes, Syracuse saw its lead gradually dwindle until the Orange led by only five with 1:08 left. White didn’t score after his 3-pointer with 5:31 remaining, and the Syracuse offense scored 11 points the rest of the way, seven of them coming from the charity stripe.

This offense needs White, even though its depth shouldn’t force Boeheim to rely on the fifth-year senior as much as it has of late. Syracuse trailed by four at the half against Wisconsin behind White’s team-high 14 points. But he didn’t score in the final 20 minutes and a stagnant Syracuse offense posted only 21 points while losing by 17.

Luckily for the Orange on Saturday, Battle showed up with 16 second-half points to bail out Syracuse when White again trailed off late. And if SU wants to avoid more near-catastrophes, White needs far more help than he’s getting.

“I was taking some really deep shots and they felt good and I got a couple to go,” White said. “That’s kind of what my team expects me to do … I can’t run away from that responsibility.”

Published on December 3, 2016 at 8:09 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman