Just eight games in, already too much is being made of Syracuse’s shooting woes. Seemingly each time Jim Boeheim steps to the podium following another Syracuse victory, the head coach emphasizes his team needs to shoot the ball better. Following a narrow victory over North Carolina State Saturday, it was the same story.

But against the Wolfpack, SU showed what else it needs to do to keep winning. The Orange committed just five turnovers to N.C. State’s 19, proving to be the difference in a 65-59 victory. Syracuse shot the ball nine additional times as a result.

Coming into the game, the Orange basically broke even in the turnover battle with its opponents. Nail-biting victories over Detroit and Michigan were largely as a result of an inability to dominate the turnover battle, as SU did Saturday.

In truth, Syracuse needs to shoot the ball better to reach the status of last year’s team. That’s not a secret. But that is far from the only thing. And until Saturday against N.C. State, that may not have been completely evident.

The reality is that the Orange is shooting the ball rather poorly compared to a year ago, when it won the Big East regular season title. A quick glance at the season statistics confirms as much. The problem is that when the Orange hasn’t been shooting with consistency, Syracuse also has too slim of an advantage in the turnover margin.

So though the Orange has forced its opponents to shoot just 37.4 percent through eight games, the team only creates three more turnovers than it gives up per game. Prior to Saturday, the Orange only had a plus-1.4 margin per game. That’s against the likes of William & Mary, Canisius and Detroit. That won’t cut it against Big East teams, not to mention No. 6 Michigan State at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

‘We only turned it over five times, and that was the difference in the game,’ Boeheim said Saturday. ‘If the turnovers were any different, we had no chance to win.’

Although shooting efficiency is down from a year ago, Boeheim has professed confidence that the Orange will turn it around eventually. The open shots that are falling in practice need to carry over to games. Ultimately, it comes back to the turnovers.

Saturday, it was the turnover margin that allowed the Orange to escape unscathed.

‘Being active and creating turnovers, I think that’s going to be a big thing for us,’ forward Rick Jackson said Saturday.

A year ago, the issue was the same. Sure, SU had the highest scoring margin in the conference at plus-14.5, but Syracuse also led the league in turnovers — at an eye-popping 15.2 per game. The Orange was able to offset that by an unusually high field-goal percentage and by forcing just as many turnovers.

When SU’s season ended prematurely at the hands of Butler, it wasn’t the shooting that doomed the Orange. It was SU’s 18 turnovers to Butler’s seven. Syracuse shot the ball better (from the field, beyond the arc and the same at the free-throw line) than the Bulldogs in that game.

This season, the press conference theme has remained focused on shooting. Boeheim said he expects his squad to start shooting the ball better. And, of course, that will need to happen if the Orange hopes to remain inside the Top 10.

But as witnessed Saturday, strong defensive play and a heavy advantage in the turnover margin will be the key to winning until that shooting improvement comes. And if it doesn’t, then at least the Orange knows where it can look in close late-game situations. In this case, it isn’t all about the shooting.

Andrew L. John is the sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at aljohn@syr.edu.

Published on December 5, 2010 at 12:00 pm