9 takeaways from Syracuse's 81-68 exhibition win over Daemen

Syracuse claimed an 81-68 victory over Daemen in the first of their two exhibition games Friday night. Quadir Copeland and Justin Taylor each had 12 points, leading seven players who scored at least eight points, including six in double figures.

Here are a few observations from the contest:

Even with Judah Mintz missing the game, it was jarring to see J.J. Starling play all 40 minutes. Starling was in control for the Orange throughout the game and of particular note was his ability to get wherever he wanted with the ball.

Naheem McLeod’s first outing with the Orange was much more limited, as he logged just 15 minutes.

McLeod was as advertised, though, swatting a couple shots and grabbing three offensive boards in that time.

He also had eight points, throwing down an alley-oop in an early pick and roll and displaying touch soft enough to get a friendly bounce on a jump hook.

Benny Williams had a literal hit-and-miss night.

Williams shot 5-of-8 in the game, missing all three of his attempts beyond the arc.

Of his shots inside the arc, he had two dunks and three jumpers in the mid-range to long-two area, including a spinning fadeaway and a jumper on the move from right-to-left across the key.

The player getting the second-highest amount of playing time was Taylor, who saw 35 minutes of action.

Taylor shot well in the first, hitting three early 3s, then adding a fourth right before halftime. His second half effort was not nearly as productive, as he missed all four of his field goal attempts and committed a pair of turnovers.

Two players struggled in what was otherwise a successful night. Chris Bell went 1-of-5 on 3s and 1-of-7 overall, finishing with three points, a rebound, a steal, and four fouls. Peter Carey fouled out in just 8:09 of play, including committing four fouls in the second half.

What is most concerning about Carey’s propensity for fouling is that some were poorly intended such as fouling on a reach at least 15 feet from the basket.

Carey’s struggles also contributed greatly to Daemen reaching the bonus with just over nine minutes left in the game.

Copeland showed he could potentially have a very important role as a glue guy. The sophomore had nine assists, five rebounds, and four steals to go with his 12 points. Unfortunately, he also turned the ball over four times.

Kyle Cuffe Jr. shot well enough to suggest he could be in the playing rotation when the season starts, hitting 3-of-6 from deep for most of his 11 points. Cuffe also had four boards and three steals, but matched Copeland with four miscues.

There were some simple mental errors that need to be erased, such as Williams bringing the ball below his waist against a smaller defender and getting stripped and Taylor making a casual, one-handed effort to catch a pass, then misplaying it for a turnover.

Even with the switch to man-to-man, the Orange defense put up some very familiar-sounding numbers on defense.

Daemen made 11 three-pointers at just under a 46 percent clip and the undersized guests barely finished on the downside of the rebounding battle at 35-32, in part by owning a 17-14 second half advantage.

----

Chat about this story and all things Syracuse and Syracuse recruiting on our premium message board, Cuse Classified!

Follow us on Twitter @TheJuiceOnline, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @SUJuiceOnline and listen to our podcast.

Tips/questions/concerns? E-mail Recruiting Analyst Charles Kang here.

Not a subscriber to The Juice Online? Join today for access to all our premium content and message board community.