CORAL GABLES, FLA. — Now that DaJuan Coleman’s officially out for the season, Baye Moussa Keita and Rakeem Christmas will be counted on even more.

On Saturday, in No. 2 Syracuse’s (19-0, 6-0 Atlantic Coast) 64-52 win over Miami at the BankUnited Center, Keita met the challenge, clogging the paint and outrebounding the Hurricanes’ (10-9, 2-5) big men.

Christmas had an up-and-down performance, scoring six points but slacking on the glass.

“I thought Baye really got active on the boards,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “Rakeem made a couple good plays, but the second half he was nonexistent.”

Syracuse struggled on the boards against Pittsburgh a week ago. The Orange was outrebounded 35-to-24, including 16-to-4 on the offensive glass. Against the Hurricanes, though, the Orange finished with a 39-24 rebounding advantage.

Miami finished with just three second-chance points.

There was no change in approach during the week of preparation, but there was a conscious change in mindset.

“Everybody was in attack,” SU forward Jerami Grant said. “We knew we lost the battle against Pittsburgh, and knew we didn’t want that to happen again.”

One of the problems with the zone, Boeheim said, is that rebounding becomes more difficult. Syracuse tries to counteract that by rushing the rim, which didn’t work against Pittsburgh but did against Miami.

Grant snagged eight boards and C.J. Fair added seven. Keita finished with six, and was key for SU down the stretch.

Boeheim knew how many minutes Keita played before he looked at the stat sheet. Nineteen. In those 19 minutes, Boeheim said Keita gave SU a “big lift,” including the two baskets he scored around the rim in a two-minute stretch.

But Boeheim still wants to see more production on the glass from Christmas, a player he’s both praised and criticized frequently throughout the season.

With Coleman gone, focusing on rebounding is that much more important for the entire frontcourt.

“DaJuan’s really active around the basket,” guard Trevor Cooney said. “He’s a big body to move. To fill something like that you’ve just got to be active and stay in the paint and get rebounds.”

Published on January 25, 2014 at 8:25 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass