Rakeem Christmas wagged his pointer finger three times as he strode back toward the Syracuse bench.

The Orange had survived again. With the weight of an undefeated No. 1 team on his back, it was Christmas — the team’s lone healthy center — who walked the foul-trouble tight rope once more to lift Syracuse to its second straight victory without Baye Moussa Keita.

“Rakeem played a great game for us,” SU forward C.J. Fair said. “If he doesn’t play the way he played, we don’t come out with the win.”

Christmas turned in arguably the best performance of his career with a team-high 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks as the top-ranked Orange (25-0, 12-0 Atlantic Coast) staved off North Carolina State (16-9, 6-6) 56-55 in the Carrier Dome on Saturday.

He knocked down all six of his free throws in the final 10:08 and made the defensive play Syracuse needed in the waning seconds, jumping Anthony Barber’s pass to Kyle Washington and starting the break that resulted in Fair’s game-winning layup. But most importantly, he put SU in position to beat the Wolfpack by committing just three fouls, and altering more than just the shots he got his hands on.

“I thought he was really the difference in the game,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said.

Christmas’ dominance started early. First, a 15-foot jump shot from the right wing. Then a pair of powerful slam dunks. And finally an impressive save underneath the basket that nearly led to a Trevor Cooney 3-pointer.

With the rest of SU’s frontcourt floundering, he was the lone constant. After a swatting of N.C. State guard Tyler Lewis with 5:31 left, even Boeheim clapped.

“I was just trying to go out there and block everything,” Christmas said. “They were trying to take a lot of jump shots, and I was lunging at them and I was getting them. I was just trying to do that and be disruptive.”

Christmas blocked six more shots in the second half, commandeering an interior resilience that limited N.C. State to grabbing just 13 rebounds after the break.

Each time the Wolfpack penetrated the 2-3 zone, Christmas was there to either block or alter the shot attempt.

He rejected T.J. Warren’s jumper 18 seconds into the second half and then Jordan Vandenberg’s two minutes later.

He turned Warren away twice more in the following three minutes before denying Barber’s baseline drive at the 12:56 mark.

Christmas said he’s mastered the process of deciding whether or not he’ll try to block a shot. If there’s space between him and the offensive player, he’ll go for it. But if their bodies are already in contact, he’ll just stick his arms straight up.

It’s been a gradual process, but one that’s paid tremendous dividends in SU’s two games without Keita and sophomore center DaJuan Coleman, who underwent season-ending knee surgery on Jan. 28.

“I’ve been doing that since high school,” Christmas said. “That’s one thing I’ve learned to do is block shots.”

It wasn’t until this summer, though, that Christmas put as much effort into his free-throw shooting. Christmas said assistant coach Mike Hopkins pushed him to practice at the line throughout the off-season.

After shooting 57.4 percent from the foul line last season, the junior is up to 68.4 percent. And when the Orange needed him on Saturday, he came through when Jerami Grant, Tyler Ennis and Fair didn’t.

His last free throw gave SU a 51-50 edge with 4:43 to play.

“It’s something that now we’re getting used to and we’ve got to expect,” Grant said. “If he didn’t play like this, we would’ve lost this game.”

But Syracuse didn’t.

After Grant and Cooney trapped Barber in the corner, Christmas swiped his pass and flipped the ball to Ennis. Moments later, Fair hit a layup and the Orange escaped with its second exhilarating win of the week.

Keita is expected to return soon, and when he does much of the pressure currently placed on Christmas will be relieved.

But until that happens, Syracuse will need him to continue his high rate of efficiency if it wants to stay undefeated.

Said Christmas: “Without DaJuan and Baye, I have to step up.”

Published on February 16, 2014 at 1:01 am

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1