Just as they did against Marquette, the same way they did against Georgetown and exactly like they did against Louisville, the shots kept missing.

One after another — from either James Southerland or Brandon Triche — the ball was released only to clang off of the rim a second later.

Syracuse’s two best shooters combined to miss 11 of their 12 attempts from beyond the arc on Wednesday, relying instead on a relentless attack of the basket that yielded repeated trips to the free-throw line. The Orange shot 31 free throws and made 24 of them in a 78-57 win over DePaul, employing a physical style of play to snap its three-game losing streak.

“We fought through all that (bad offense), played good defense and got on the boards and really just gritted it out,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “That’s what you have to do. You can shoot poorly and still win. It makes it a lot more difficult.”

With Triche and Southerland both experiencing declines in their shooting percentages in recent weeks, the duo made a conscious effort to look for points inside against DePaul. Southerland, who shot a total of 12 free throws during the entire Big East season entering Wednesday’s game, nearly matched that total in 35 minutes.

His six offensive rebounds led to 11 free-throw attempts, and Southerland converted them all. He finished with a game-high 22 points, despite making only five field goals.

“We had another bad shooting night, so we knew we had to go to the basket to just get a rhythm,” Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams said. “That’s something we want to do, is get to the basket more and get to the line more.”

During one particularly impressive sequence in the first half, Southerland grabbed three offensive rebounds on the same possession. He missed a 3-pointer, grabbed his own rebound, missed a putback, grabbed his own rebound, missed again, grabbed his own rebound and was finally fouled by Jamee Crockett inside.

He powered the ball up and in through Crockett’s foul and completed a traditional three-point play to break a 24-24 tie.

Triche, whose shooting woes date back to Feb. 2 against Pittsburgh, adopted a similar strategy against the Blue Demons. He scored 15 points on Wednesday without making a 3-point shot. He tallied seven of his points at the free-throw line.

Like Southerland, he, too, had a critical three-point play during the 15-0 run late in the first half that propelled Syracuse to victory. He drove down the left side of the lane and finished through contact, then converted at the line to push the lead to 30-24.

Said Boeheim: “We went after it better.”

Published on March 7, 2013 at 12:48 am

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13