DURHAM, N.C. — Tyler Roberson, Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney tied to lead Syracuse with five field goals each. But Gbinije needed 20 attempts and Cooney tried 16.

Roberson took just nine.

As the rest of the Syracuse offense struggled — shooting 30.6 percent in its 73-54 loss to No. 4 Duke (26-3, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) on Saturday night — the Orange’s (18-11, 9-7) sophomore forward was efficient, leading SU with 16 points and nine rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.

“He was just playing aggressive,” sophomore forward B.J. Johnson said. “Whenever (Rakeem Christmas) got the ball they usually double from Tyler’s man, and whenever that happens he gets a good look at the basket for an offensive rebound and he did a pretty good job of that.”

Roberson tallied seven of Syracuse’s first nine points in the opening five minutes, cashing in on a pair of offensive boards and tacking a free throw onto an and-one.

Christmas secured an offensive rebound and hit Roberson for a tough shot off the dribble from the block to draw SU within 17-16.

“He started the game great, then he kind of got out of sync there for a while,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said of Roberson. “But he started out great. It helps when nobody’s guarding you.”

But as the Blue Devils began to pull away, the SU offense — including Roberson, for a span — stagnated and fell too far behind to come back.

The forward hit six out of seven from the free-throw line for the game and added a baseline mid-range jumper with the game out of reach, a shot he’s been hesitant to fire for most of the season.

Now Syracuse prepares to take on No. 2 Virginia and its sturdy defense on Monday in the Carrier Dome. It’s a defense that will likely present unique ways of pressuring Christmas and present chances for Roberson.

“He was just finding the open spots,” Cooney said. “They were double-teaming Rak, they were helping on Mike and I and he was just finding open spots. That’s what he needs to do, keep finding the open spots and making shots.”

Published on March 2, 2015 at 1:23 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb