Michael Gbinije struggled mightily in Syracuse’s two preseason games. On a team that seemed loaded and deep at nearly every position, backup point guard was the exception.

But on Friday night in No. 8 Syracuse’s (1-0) 82-60 win over Cornell (0-1) at the Carrier Dome in front of 24,788, Gbinije was consistent. He scored six points on 2-of-3 shooting and added five assists.

“He didn’t play much as a freshman, didn’t play last year,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said, “so I just thought he was steady out there.”

Gbinije came off the bench just three-plus minutes into the game and had an immediate effect. He fed Rakeem Christmas for an easy layup five minutes in and snagged a rebound two plays later.

At the 11:15 mark in the first half, Gbinije froze the defender with a hesitation move and drove along the baseline. He got fouled and hit one of two at the line, cutting the deficit to one.

He looked like a completely different player from the one who shot 2-of-7 from the field and turned the ball over eight times in two preseason games.

“Yeah, it was strange,” Gbinije said. “First game I had to knock a lot of rust off, and second game I had to figure some things out.”

Toward the end of the first half, Gbinije fed Trevor Cooney for back-to-back 3-pointers that cut the Orange’s deficit to 36-30.

At the 13:55 mark in the second, Gbinije snuck along the baseline again, this time laying it up and in around a swarm of Cornell defenders. After forcing a steal that led to another Cooney 3, Gbinije hit a 3 of his own.

He pulled up from the right side and the ball grazed the rim and went in. The bucket bumped the Orange’s lead to 58-48.

“I was really happy with what he did,” Boeheim said. “That 3 was big. That was a backbreaker right there.”

Published on November 9, 2013 at 3:50 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass