CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The growth of Tyler Roberson has occurred behind closed doors.

Practicing with C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant, the seldom-used freshman forward has gradually improved this year. But most fans hadn’t seen it.

Before No. 4 Syracuse’s (26-3, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) 75-56 loss to No. 12 Virginia (25-5, 16-1) on Saturday, Roberson looked hesitant in his limited minutes. But against the Cavaliers, he put together his best performance of the season, albeit in garbage time.

“He’s put a couple practices together and he’s a talented kid,” SU shooting guard Trevor Cooney said. “He’s good offensively, he’s good defensively, but he hasn’t had those meaningful minutes.”

Roberson finished with five points on 2-of-3 shooting in the final three minutes of the game.

And with Grant’s health status up in the air due to a sore back, it’s possible Roberson will see more significant minutes when the Orange hosts Georgia Tech on Tuesday.

“Coach let him know to be ready,” SU point guard Tyler Ennis said, “and I thought he did a great job coming in. He was really aggressive scoring the ball and getting in there on rebounds.

“So we’ve just got to look at positives. And without Jerami, Tyler’s going to have to step up.”

Roberson has shown some flashes in other games, most notably a thunderous two-handed dunk in transition against Duke on Feb. 1. And teammates agreed that his confidence has appeared to grow throughout the season.

While it’s unlikely that he’ll become a rotation player this late in the year, there’s no question the Orange could need him down the stretch this year between Grant’s injury and the foul trouble Rakeem Christmas and Baye Moussa Keita have been unable to avoid lately.

Said Ennis: “We’re going to need him. He’s just got to continue to produce when he gets minutes.”

Published on March 2, 2014 at 4:06 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1