Dajuan Coleman walked back to the Syracuse bench and got an earful from Jim Boeheim along the way. He stopped short of his seat, having just recorded his fifth and final foul, and motioned with his body to Boeheim how he had picked it up.

There were six minutes and 11 seconds to play, and the Orange had to close out what was then a tied game without its big man. To that point, he had played so well against a Georgia Tech team that is built on size.

“I don’t know. I get it. I don’t know to be honest with you,” Coleman said. “I think they’re always giving me that foul because I’m just a little stronger than the guy.”

Coleman’s frustration for his foul calls put a bitter spin on what was an otherwise encouraging game for the still-regrouping Syracuse center. Despite fouling out in just 24 minutes, he recorded a conference play-high 11 points, and finished around the rim with ease. And even with his absence late in the game, Syracuse’s (15-8, 5-5 Atlantic Coast) defense did enough to hold off Georgia Tech (12-9, 2-6) in a 60-57 win in the Carrier Dome on Saturday.

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“I thought Dajuan was tremendous tonight,” Boeheim said. “He just can’t get his hands on people and get fouls. He had three fouls with very little pressure on guys. I thought offensively he was good.”

Coleman fouled Nick Jacobs on a shot less than two minutes into the game and was subsequently taken out. When he re-entered three minutes later, he immediately recorded another foul. In the time he was out, Georgia Tech owned the paint — it’s where it got its first 10 points — against Tyler Lydon, who seemed undersized.

It forced Coleman to go back in the game despite the early fouls, and that’s when he put on one of his best offensive performances that he has this season. On his first basket, he used his backside to create space from a defender then turned to lay in a shot that looked easier than it was. With Syracuse up by three points, he got a pass from Frank Howard wide open under the hoop. He power-dribbled and finished another layup.

“Anytime I got the ball, I just tried to go up strong,” Coleman said. “Any time I could score, that helped the team a lot.”

When Syracuse played Pittsburgh on Dec. 30, Coleman fouling out left the Orange without his big-body presence. The Orange lost by 11 in a game that SU trailed by two in when he was forced to leave the court. Lydon said he knew when Coleman came out on Saturday that he would have to buckle down defensively.

“I wasn’t too worried about what I was going to do on offense,” Lydon said.

Coleman’s presence wasn’t missed in the way it has been this season — GT scored only eight points after he left. But his success when he did play gave reason to inspire confidence going forward. He’s struggled to score all season, taking unnecessary power dribbles, missing shots around the rim. Playing well against a team like Georgia Tech, a team that features three good post players, showed that Coleman’s recovery process from his knee injury isn’t over, but it’s getting there.

“He’s getting used to playing a little bit,” Boeheim said. “I think everybody was very foolish to think this was going to happen in the first 10 games or 15 or 20. It was going to take some time…He’s making progress.”

Published on January 30, 2016 at 3:54 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3