Wesley Johnson finally did the talking for himself.

While coaches – both at SU and around the Big East – and teammates praised the junior transfer from Iowa State leading up to his first exhibition game for Syracuse against Cal State-Los Angeles Sunday, Johnson remained tight-lipped.

In the second half against the Golden Eagles, though, Johnson let his game speak. On a fast-break pass from point guard Scoop Jardine, Johnson soared toward the rim and threw down a monstrous jam to a rousing ovation from the crowd. When he landed, he looked in the direction of a certain congregation to send a message.

‘I was looking at the student section,’ Johnson said. ‘To let them know, yeah, this is going to be an exciting season.’

Message delivered.

After sitting out last year due to transfer rules, Johnson showed Syracuse fans glimpses of his talent in SU’s 97-54 win over CSULA. Johnson scored eight points on 4-of-9 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked four shots and had two steals.

‘It felt good,’ Johnson said. ‘I tried to play within myself and not force anything and anything we needed, like defensively or rebounding, I tried to do or help.’

Johnson practiced all of last season with Syracuse, but could not play in games until this season. Per NCAA rules, transfers are required to sit out a year before becoming eligible to play. So as he hung around waiting for Sunday’s game to commence, he said it was ‘nerve-wracking,’ and he probably went out on the court a little too early. As the game went on, the jitters started to dissipate.

Johnson used his massive wingspan on defense to block shots and steal balls. He reached out to intercept and deflect passes. Offensively, he missed both of his 3-point shots, scoring all of his points in the paint. Johnson played a team-high 26 minutes in the win and earned praise from head coach Jim Boeheim.

‘Wesley was good,’ Boeheim said. ‘He’s a good defender, good rebounder, does a lot of things. He’s not necessarily a big scorer, he doesn’t look to score a lot. He doesn’t take that many shots.’

TRICHE AND SCOOP

Brandon Triche was always in the starting five at nearby Jamesville-DeWitt High School. So when his first exhibition game in college presented itself Sunday, the freshman found himself back in a familiar role ? as the starting point guard, this time for Syracuse.

Triche started Sunday over sophomore Scoop Jardine, but both guards saw a good amount of playing time in Syracuse’s 97-54 win. Triche scored eight points and had three assists in 21 minutes, while Jardine had 10 points and 11 assists in 18 minutes. It was Jardine’s first action since missing last season with a foot injury.

The two guards even played at the same time during spurts of the game.

‘It was great,’ Triche said of splitting time with Jardine. ‘He had 11 assists, he found open shots and didn’t have any turnovers, so he played great. I tried to do the same things, find open things and run the team well and be a more vocal leader.’

Triche ran a methodical offense from the point, taking time to pass the ball around and not focusing on his own shooting. He only took six shots, three of which he made. Boeheim said Triche was ‘solid.’

Jardine, meanwhile, was much more on the attack, driving to the basket on many occasions. He constantly drove to the basket and was fouled. He shot 10 free throws, a team high. At one point, he incited a collective ‘ooh’ from the crowd when he crossed over a Golden Eagles defender on his way to the basket. He said he ‘got back into playing Philly ball.’

Jardine was not concerned about not getting the starting nod from Boeheim on opening day.

‘It was great. Brandon’s a great player and is going to help us a lot, and he’s a great teammate,’ Jardine said. ‘He really helped me when he came in with his work ethic, and it kind of rubbed off on me, and I’m just trying to help him go through this whole thing since I already went through it. I’m just trying to be there for him. He’s my teammate.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on October 25, 2009 at 12:00 pm