On three straight possessions, Jerami Grant caught the ball in the high post and turned toward the exact same picture — nothing.

Eastern Michigan center Da’Shonte Riley was camped out underneath the basket and all that separated Grant from the hoop was three strides.

Layup. Three-point play. Layup.

“They was leaving the middle open and that’s where I was,” Grant said, “so every time I touched it I knew I could get to the rack.”

Grant was thrust from the bench and into the heart of a 2-3 zone on Tuesday — but it wasn’t Syracuse’s. The sophomore forward made his first start of the year, with center DaJuan Coleman out due to a left leg contusion, and keyed the Orange’s surgical disassembling of the Eagles’ defense. He finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting and eight rebounds as No. 2 SU (13-0) defeated Eastern Michigan (7-5) 70-48 in front of 20,306 in the Carrier Dome.

But in addition to his scoring, Grant showcased his passing ability out of the post as well as his ability to counteract various adjustments the Eagles made in attempt to slow him down. Facing former Syracuse assistant coach Rob Murphy, now the head coach at Eastern Michigan, the Orange knew to expect a near replica of its own sterling defense, and had its approach ready right away.

Feed Grant and let him work.

“Jerami Grant won us the game in the first five minutes,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “Jerami got into the lane and made some really good plays.”

Grant used his long legs and quick first step to beat EMU early and often, racking up seven quick points as SU ran out to a 9-3 lead 3:06 into regulation.

Moments later, point guard Tyler Ennis found him with a behind-the-back pass, which he turned into two to push Syracuse’s lead to eight.

“He’s just finishing,” Ennis said. “He’s going to be key for us with DaJuan out, for however long.”

And when the Eagles came to double-team Grant in the post, he looked for Trevor Cooney and C.J. Fair on the wings. Both rimmed out two clean jumpers off feeds from Grant in the first half, but the passes were on point and in time.

The Orange’s lead ballooned as wide as 30-10 with 7:08 left in the first half as Grant added another nice finish off an Ennis no-look pass and helped clean the glass on the defensive end.

But the SU offense stalled out and EMU rallied to pull within 36-27 at halftime, and as close as 37-32 early in the second half.

The Eagles had hung around with then-No. 3 Kentucky and then-No. 21 Massachusetts earlier in the season, and were threatening to give SU a run at an upset. They pushed their center up and pulled their guards back to prevent entry passes to Grant and Fair in the high post.

That’s when Grant helped key the Orange’s counter adjustment. He slid to the right baseline while Cooney moved to the right corner as SU tried to crack the zone from the side.

Getting Grant the ball there opened up lanes for cutters, like Fair.

With 14:11 left, Grant flipped a pass between two defenders into the mitts of a slicing Fair, who swooped under the hoop and scored to extend the Orange’s lead to 48-37.

“He’s a better passer than people think,” Ennis said. “Being able to have him find open guys, but also score the ball was big going against that zone.”

Syracuse never led by single digits from there as the Orange rounded out its nonconference schedule with its 51st straight win against such opponents at home.

Next up for Grant and the Orange is the start of Atlantic Coast Conference play. There won’t be many more zones to crack, but strong play from Grant in the high post will be crucial as the Orange pushes for ACC and NCAA Tournament championships.

Said Boeheim: “I think at this stage what we’re concerned about is being ready for the league starting Saturday. We have some good practice days ahead of us that I think will help us.”

Published on December 31, 2013 at 5:13 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1