Brandon Triche shared a laugh with Baye Moussa Keita as he headed to the foul line. Moments earlier, Triche sliced through the Bloomsburg zone from the left wing, received a pass from the Syracuse center and rose up for a one-handed dunk attempt.

Though his attempt to go over waiting Bloomsburg forward Dontahe Jordan came up short, it captured Triche’s aggressive mentality against the Huskies.

“I’m actually better going to the basket than shooting jump shots,” Triche said. “Tonight I was trying to get to the basket a little bit more.”

Triche carried out his personal game plan, finishing with a team-high 23 points on strong drives while also calmly distributing the ball on the break in No. 9 Syracuse’s 103-60 victory over Bloomsburg in its final exhibition game at the Carrier Dome in front of 7,559 on Sunday.

When he thinks back to his first three years, the senior said he felt he wasn’t aggressive enough, settling for jump shots too often. And last Thursday, he played too relaxed against Pace, finishing three of eight from the field for 11 points.

Against Bloomsburg, he keyed the efficient Syracuse fast break that put the Huskies away in the first half. And SU head coach Jim Boeheim was pleased with his standout performance.

“I thought Brandon played the way we need him to play and was very aggressive and certainly capable of playing like that,” Boeheim said. “So that was I think the best thing to come out of today.”

Triche got going early when he scored seven straight points to put Syracuse up 22-12. A drive down the left side of the lane followed by a three-pointer and a near-identical finish forced Bloomsburg to take its first timeout as the Orange started to build a cushion.

Then Triche emerged as the catalyst to the team’s final big push to give the team a 36-point lead at the break. Bloomsburg called a timeout with just less than three minutes remaining after watching the Orange go on a 25-4 run. But Syracuse didn’t let up.

Triche started the final sequence with his cut down the lane. On the ensuing possession, C.J. Fair poked the ball away for a steal, Triche raced to the top of the key and lofted a perfectly timed alley oop for Fair who had circled around to the left baseline.

The next time down the floor was more of the same. This time, Triche grabbed a loose ball and fed Jerami Grant on the left block for an easy layup.

“Today, more than even last game, our wings ran the floor a lot; they ran well,” Triche said. “Our big guys ran well; once they got the rebounds we were able to get out on the break. It made it much easier for the guards to make open passes.”

The active defensive play also benefited Triche in the scoring column. He followed Grant’s bucket with a layup of his own and capped the half with a strong drive down the right side of the lane.

“He came out here very aggressive and he was knocking down the shots and that’s something we need out of Brandon,” Fair said.

Triche picked up where he left off in the second half, dishing out two more assists and finishing one more layup to help the Orange go up 73-32 less than five minutes into the half.

Triche then took a seat and watched his teammates build the lead as large as 51 points until returning nearly 10 minutes later.

He would go on to nail a three-pointer from the wing before firing a pass to DaJuan Coleman for an easy two-handed slam. The guard gave a fist pump while Coleman finished at the rim, confident in his play in a dominant victory.

It was a performance in which Triche played with the aggression he’s been searching for. He didn’t wait on the perimeter for plays to develop, instead going to the basket and making something happen for himself and his teammates.

“Thursday I was just more relaxed,” Triche said. “So today I just knew I was going to come out a little aggressive.”

Published on November 5, 2012 at 2:00 am

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu