Dajuan Coleman corralled a bounce pass from Malachi Richardson with his right hand, took a step forward, planted his left foot then right just behind the foul line, and sprung into the air to sink the 16-foot shot.

“We don’t love him taking that jump shot,” interim head coach Mike Hopkins said. “But when he takes it and makes it I’m like, ‘He’s going to have a great game. Dajuan’s in his zone.’”

Coleman has been “in his zone” more than ever recently. He matched his career-high of 14 points on Sunday and in the last two games against Montana State and Texas Southern, SU’s last nonconference games, he scored more than 10 points for the first time in back-to-back games in his career.

Though the senior center’s been hitting his stride offensively as of late — his defense is still a work in progress — the real test for Coleman will be when Syracuse (10-3) starts Atlantic Coast Conference play at Pittsburgh (10-1) at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Everybody has to be pretty happy with what he’s done,” suspended head coach Jim Boeheim said on his radio show Monday night. “Obviously, we’re just starting and there’s a lot more to be played. But he certainly, at this stage, has exceeded expectations, I think in terms of how he’s moving on offense.”

Seven weeks ago, Coleman suited up for the Orange’s exhibition against Le Moyne. It was also his first game in nearly two years after rehabbing a twice-injured and repaired left knee.  Four weeks ago, in the Orange’s loss to Wisconsin, Coleman registered a season-low five minutes and zero points.

It’s “impossible to tell” how far Coleman has come since the beginning of the season, Hopkins said. But his four double-digit outings in the last six games are up from the two-plus points he was averaging in the seven games prior.

In 13 minutes of second-half action on Sunday, Coleman grabbed all seven of his rebounds and scored 10 of his 14 points. Five of them came on second-chance opportunities, which is how, he said, he’s going to score his points.

In each of the last two games, Coleman was able to knock a defender down with his body and finish with a layup.

“Just being aggressive in the paint,” Coleman said.  “Being aggressive going for the boards. That’s what I’m going to score off.”

The Orange’s emphasis on the 3-point shot has opened up space and chances for its big men like Coleman, Tyler Lydon and Tyler Roberson and, Boeheim said, the trio needs to take advantage of them.

Defensively, though, Coleman looked vulnerable on Sunday, even against one of the nation’s smallest teams. He showed flashes of his ability, including one of his four steals where he stepped up to stuff TSU’s Jose Rodriguez at the high post. But Derek Griffin, TSU’s big man, netted 20 points.

He fielded lobs behind Coleman for alley-oop dunks and lay-in baskets in front of the center as the Tigers scored 34 points in the paint.

“Defensively, we know that that quickness, that lateral movement is not there yet,” Boeheim said. “But I think he still made great strides and is doing some great things for us right now.”

Syracuse is done with nonconference play, though, and instead of facing some of the country’s smallest teams, it’ll face some of the biggest, such as Miami on Saturday.

Coleman and Lydon said their expectations for the former against Pitt are the same as they were for Texas Southern. Despite the increased level of competition down low, Hopkins said SU, a team that has struggled in the paint, needs the same performance that Coleman produced on Sunday, as it heads into ACC play.

“We need seven rebounds in 20 minutes,” Hopkins said. “We need that physical presence so when we play against guys in our league he’s banging, battling, putting his weight on those guys, tiring them out on both ends of the floor.”

Published on December 29, 2015 at 5:20 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus