SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Jordan Reed ambled into the Carrier Dome’s press room Saturday night, sucking the juice out of an orange slice — an ironic gesture, given the Orange of Syracuse had just chewed up the Binghamton men’s basketball team.

Syracuse’s length overmatched the Bearcats, who turned the ball over 18 times and shot 38 percent from the floor in the 93-65 loss. But without Reed’s stellar individual performance, the final score could have been far more lopsided.

Even though Syracuse’s 2-3 zone theoretically should have limited an attacking player like Reed, the 6-foot-4 sophomore guard found ways to score. He finished with a game-high 26 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 13 of 14 from the line. He also corralled seven rebounds, despite banging with 6-foot-8 forwards and future NBA draft picks C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant, among others, on the glass.

“He’s still able to enforce his will on the game,” BU head coach Tommy Dempsey said. “He’s still able to get himself to the free throw line, get offensive rebounds. He picked his spots really well in transition and just played a great game.”

Reed excelled in transition, finishing a pair of acrobatic layups through contact and drawing fouls on numerous other occasions. In the half court, he did not attack the rim as frequently as usual. He simply couldn’t get into the middle of the zone. But he confidently nailed a baseline jumper in the first half and a right-wing 3-pointer in the second to add to his field goal total.

A player who has struggled to maintain a high efficiency level on offense, Reed posted two of the four highest Offensive Ratings of his career last week (146 at Mount St. Mary’s and 147 at Syracuse, as measured by KenPom.com). He split America East Player of the Week honors with Hartford junior forward Mark Nwakamma as a result.

In each of last week’s games, Reed picked his spots effectively. He played under control and rarely forced the issue at the rim.

The Bearcats need similarly efficient performances from Reed the rest of this season, especially as freshman guards Yosef Yacob and Marlon Beck II continue to adjust to running the offense of a Division I team.

When Reed has forced too many shots and struggled with ball control, the Bearcats have either lost games they should have won or couldn’t overcome manageable deficits.

The sophomore went 2 for 16 from the floor and turned the ball over five times in Binghamton’s 74-57 loss at Brown on Nov. 10. When Binghamton relinquished a 14-point second-half lead in a 69-63 loss to Radford on Nov. 23, Reed shot 4 of 15 from the field and 8 of 15 from the foul line.

Contrarily, Reed’s most efficient performances have either won games or kept Binghamton close — with the exception of Syracuse. Dating back to last season, Binghamton is 3-2 when Reed posts an ORtg higher than 130. Remember, the Bearcats have won just five games since Dempsey took over the program, and one of those two losses came to Loyola Md., a game in which Reed fouled out with 3:33 left and his team leading by one point.

Can Dempsey reasonably rely on Reed to churn out efficient performance after efficient performance, given his impressive displays at the Carrier Dome and Mount St. Mary’s?

No, but the sophomore should remember what made him so successful against Syracuse and Mount St. Mary’s last week and Cornell and Loyola Md. earlier in the season.

Don’t forget that Reed has played just 37 games at Binghamton. He’s still growing as a Division I basketball player, so he’ll post higher ORtgs on a more consistent basis in time.

But the sooner he’s able to do that, the sooner Binghamton will pose more of a challenge in the America East.