After an offseason of hype, the Gerry McNamara-era officially started on Monday night for the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team.

And McNamara's tenure started off with a win as the Orange defeated visiting New Haven 74-58 inside the JMA Wireless Dome.

Here's what you need to know. The takeaways are in no particular order.

The Orange started the game on an 18-0 run, but played basically even the rest of the way, actually losing to the Chargers 58-56 from that point forward.

Sure, you can blame it on complacency, or on different lineup combinations, but McNamara is not going to be happy at how the final 30 minutes or so played out.

At halftime, he referenced poor shot selection that allowed New Haven to get some easy buckets in transition, and he'll continue to harp on finishing games until the Orange take the floor again.

Gavin Doty, a transfer from Siena, has emerged as the leader of this team. The Fulton, N.Y. native had 14 points on 3-of-7 shooting and was 7-of-8 at the foul line. He was all over the floor and his hustle will certainly be infectious to his teammates.

After an up-and-down preseason, Kiyan Anthony and Sadiq White Jr. both played well in this game. White had a double-double, registering 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Anthony led the way with 17 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Anthony still struggled from 3-point range (2-of-8), but he got to the foul line (5-of-6) and had three assists.

White's 10 rebounds are more than double than what he had in three exhibition games.

The Orange got to the foul line and shot well (18-of-25), which helped carry them, but they have to find a way to be better than 8-of-29 from 3-point range (29 percent). Mark Marano started and hit three of them, but right now, he's the only consistent 3-point threat.

The shooting should continue to get better when Tobiason, the transfer from Temple, gets back on the floor. He was injured in the first exhibition game against UConn and hasn't played since. He's one of the top scorers on this roster.

Luke Wilson, Tasman Goodrick and Abdramane Sidy had eight points and six rebounds in total. That group has athleticism and potential, and it should grow throughout the year. The Orange will need it to.

Syracuse will take on Central Connecticut State on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.