Dajuan Coleman left the court three minutes and 10 seconds into the game. Aside from two minutes sprinkled in the latter part of the first half, he sat in the same chair with a warmup top on, observing from between assistant coaches Mike Hopkins and Adrian Autry. Syracuse was outrebounded by 26 and lost its first game of the season.

“I guess he don’t trust me out there,” Coleman said of SU head coach Jim Boeheim.

Two minutes into the game, Wisconsin forward Vitto Brown hit a jumper from the short corner and Coleman’s extended arm was left hitting thin air. After the game, Boeheim said he brought Coleman to the bench because of two short-corner jump shots that the Badgers hit. Coleman didn’t see it the same way.

“I mean I know there was one on me, that was just one,” Coleman said. “But I don’t know about a couple.”

Coleman is coming off a three-game stint in the Battle 4 Atlantis where he showed flashes of improvement. He averaged 17.3 minutes per game and grabbed seven rebounds per game in the tournament. In each of the four games prior to Wednesday, Coleman picked up four fouls.

In the No. 14 Orange’s (6-1) 66-58 overtime loss to Wisconsin (5-3), Coleman didn’t foul anyone. He had three rebounds in five minutes, tallied an assist and missed only one shot.

“Tyler’s been playing unbelievable in the middle and we won the tournament because we played him in the center spot,” Boeheim said of freshman Tyler Lydon. “So I thought it’d be a good thing to try and do what we’ve been doing, seeing as how we just won a big tournament.”

Coleman was asked if he was frustrated watching the Orange get outrebounded so heavily while he was sitting on the bench. Two brief mentions of “yeah” and quick nods followed.

Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes wasn’t surprised Coleman only saw the first three-plus minutes before being removed. He played so little a factor in Wednesday’s loss that the Badgers’ big man didn’t even know Coleman’s age or role on the team.

“I’m sure it’s because he’s a senior,” Hayes said of Coleman, who has a year of eligibility remaining after this season. “He’s been here, he’s put his time in, and I think Boeheim’s giving him respect for being here in the program but we knew that they were going to play (Lydon).”

The former McDonald’s All-American strung together a trio of promising outings in the Bahamas, but Wednesday brought his progress down a peg. Georgetown, another team with an imposing frontcourt, is up next.

And Coleman, visibly frustrated with his playing time against Wisconsin, will continue the uphill battle to get where he wants.

“Go back to work tomorrow,” he said. “I’m not going to stop.”

Published on December 3, 2015 at 12:49 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman