Malachi Richardson laughed when he heard the number 32.

The number of 3-pointers Syracuse took in its first exhibition game was eight more than in any single game last season. Ten from Michael Gbinije, eight from Richardson, five from Kaleb Joseph and the rest from four others, including a pair from freshman walk-on Adrian Autry Jr.

Jim Boeheim wasn’t lying when he said his team would live more beyond the arc this season. He thought 21 in the first half Monday night was too many, but didn’t have a problem with the quality of any.

“For the most part they were all good looks,” Trevor Cooney said. “Thirty-two is a good number for us.”

Syracuse hit 12 of its attempts for a 37.5-percent clip that would rank eighth out of its 31 games last year. In a 97-58 blowout of Le Moyne where 20 missed 3s were insignificant to the outcome, they gave a relative indication of how the Orange plans to utilize its surplus of shooters going forward.

Gbinije hit half of his 10 attempts for 15 of a team-high 21 points and a pair from Kaleb Joseph in the second half capped off a 21-0 Syracuse run that put the Dolphins in the rearview for good. Five different players made 3s, not including Cooney, showcasing a newfound depth from behind the arc.

“(Boeheim) wants to shoot 20-30 3s,” Richardson said. “We just got to do a better job of making some more. We hit a couple, but you could always get a little bit hotter.”

Boeheim rolled out three of the five or six players he calls shooters to start. At media day, he said it took until the end of the season for Gbinije to develop as just a second one for the Orange. The point guard, Cooney and Richardson headline a group this season that also includes Joseph, Tyler Lydon and Franklin Howard.

Sixteen seconds into the game, Gbinije’s first look fell short. Cooney’s first try from the left wing didn’t go either. Then Howard clanked off the back rim on his first attempt from the top of the key and Lydon misfired from the right wing on his.

The Orange couldn’t distance itself from a nearby Division-II team early and the drive-and-kick method wasn’t clicking. Le Moyne was hoisting from beyond the arc on the other end and on makes, Dolphins fans who made the trip could be heard in section 314.

Then Richardson, described a “pure shooter” by some, caught fire and hit three straight in a span of a minute and 16 seconds. On his third make, Le Moyne head coach Patrick Beilein called a timeout. Doyin Akintobi-Adeyeye put his fingers in a circle around his eye while holding up three fingers from the last seat on the bench. Paschal Chukwu extended his pointer finger in the direction of Richardson, who jogged into the Syracuse huddle.

“I just needed to get going a little bit,” Richardson said. “And the rim felt huge.”

With more side-to-side ball movement in the second half, Syracuse was able to create inside the arc. Joseph found space to drive when defenders played out on him and DaJuan Coleman was freed up on the low block.

“It opens up the court for everybody,” Gbinije said, “brings more scoring opportunities to everybody and it’s more spacing out there.”

Even with space, there were some bumps. Richardson airballed a 3 wide left before grimacing while looking at the rim and Cooney couldn’t hit on his trio of attempts from deep.

But with a swish from Autry, the 31st 3 and 95th point of the night, Boeheim smirked and Autry’s father, an assistant coach, broke out in a grin.

If a 3 is open, someone’s going to take it.

“If we’re able to get be patient and get good 3s like we did today,” Cooney said, “Then we’ll be alright.”

Published on November 2, 2015 at 9:06 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman