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Syracuse University
RUTGERS
Record 33,071 See #12 Orange Claim 83-74 Dome Win Against Rutgers
3/9/2003 5:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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SYRACUSE, N.Y.– An NCAA on-campus record 33,071 people witnessed #12 Syracuse complete its first undefeated home season in the Carrier Dome with an 83-74 win against Rutgers. SU won all 17 games on its home court, giving the Orangemen their first perfect home record since the 1978-79 team went 13-0 at Manley Field House.
Syracuse (23-4, 13-3 BIG EAST) clinched the top seed in the West Division for next week's BIG EAST Tournament. SU will compete on Thursday, March 13, at 7:00 p.m. in the BIG EAST quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden.
National Player of the Year Candidate #Carmelo Anthony# (www.suathletics.com/carmelo) notched his 18th double-double of the season, tied his career high with 30 points, and had 14 rebounds. He also dished out a career-best six assists and grabbed three steals. Anthony passed Lawrence Moten as Syracuse's top single-season freshman scorer with 607 points in 27 games. He also passed Dale Shackleford and Billy Owens to jump into second place on SU's single-season freshman rebounding list with 269. The top spot is held by Derrick Coleman who had 333 boards in 38 games in 1986-87. Anthony set the BIG EAST freshman records for scoring average (21.4) and double-doubles (10), covering league games only.
Freshman #Gerry McNamara# finished with 11 points, seven assists and five steals, and connected on all three of his free-throw attempts. He finished the BIG EAST regular season as the single-season record holder in free throw percentage, .964 (53-of-55, league games only).
Both Syracuse and Rutgers finished with five players scoring in double figures. After Anthony with his game-high 30, senior #Kueth Duany# posted 15 points on Senior Day. Sophomore #Hakim Warrick# and McNamara each had 11 points, and sophomore #Josh Pace# scored 10 points off the bench. For the Scarlet Knights, all five starters scored at least 10 points: Kareen Wright (20), Ricky Shields (18), Herve Lamizana (12), Sean Axani (12), Jerome Coleman (10).
The Orangemen opened the game by leading for the first two minutes, but Rutgers had the edge for the rest of the half and finished the first period with a 38-36 advantage. Warrick opened the second session with one of his four dunks of the game to knot the score at 38. Rutgers scored 10 unanswered points, eight of them coming on free throws by Wright, to take a 48-38 lead five minutes into the period. The Scarlet Knights took their biggest lead of the half, 54-42, at the 13:47 mark, before a Duany layup sparked an 11-2 Orange spurt that pulled SU to within three, 56-53. Rutgers' 86.3 percent free-throw shooting helped it regain a seven point edge, with Wright and Shields each converting two shots. An 8-2 Syracuse streak cut the Scarlet Knights' lead to one, 64-63, with six minutes left. Anthony went to the line with 5:36 on the the clock, and his second made free throw gave the Orange their first lead, 65-64, since the 17:37 mark of the first half. SU wouldn't relinquish control of the scoreboard again, as the Orangemen built a 10-point edge, 79-69, on a 14-5 run that was capped by threes by Duany and McNamara. It marked the 12th time Syracuse has erased a second-half deficit to win a game this season.
Syracuse will face the winner of the Villanova/Georgetown game on Thursday, March 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the ConAgra Foods BIG EAST Men's Basketball Championship at Madison Square Garden.
