Devendorf Reaches Milestone In Loss To Ohio State

Wednesday, November 21

Madison Square Garden

9:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

NIT Tipoff Semifinal vs. Ohio State

Eric Devendorf became the Orange's latest 1,000-point scorer with 15 against Ohio State.

Devendorf Reaches Milestone In Loss To Ohio State

11/21/2007 10:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NEW YORK – Junior guard Eric Devendorf (Bay City, Mich.) etched his name amongst Syracuse's basketball greats Wednesday by becoming the 49^th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Devendorf tallied 15 points, but it wasn't enough as Ohio State handed No. 21 Syracuse its first loss of the season, 79-65, in the semifinals of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.

Devendorf was 6-for-17 from the field, including two 3-point field goals. He contributed six rebounds, including a career-best five on the offensive end, to go along with five assists. Devendorf raised his career scoring total to 1,008 points. Syracuse's 49 1,000-point scorers are the fifth-most by a Division I program.

Freshman Donte' Greene (Baltimore, Md.) led the Orange with 21-points on 8-of-18 shooting. He was 3-for-9 from 3-point range and pulled down nine rebounds. Sophomore Paul Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) recorded a double-double for the third time in four outings this year with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Center Arinze Onuaku (Lanham, Md.) was SU's fourth double-figure scorer. He finished with 12 points.

Greene and Onuaku got SU going early. The duo combined for Syracuse's first 15 points and Greene had 10 in the first eight minutes, including a pair of 3-pointers.

With the game tied at 13-13, the Orange (3-1) scored seven straight points to take its largest lead of the game, 20-13, with 11:10 left in the first half. Greene scored four of his 12 first-half points during the stretch.

On the verge of letting the game slip away, Ohio State (3-0) responded with an 18-4 scoring spurt fueled by six points from Othello Hunter, four free throws by Jon Diebler and eight markers by Kosta Koufos. The run gave Ohio State a 31-24 advantage at the 5:43 mark.

Back-to-back hoops by freshman Scoop Jardine (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Harris stopped the bleeding and pulled SU within three, 31-28.

Just as Syracuse got back in the game, Evan Turner took some of the wind out of the Orange's sails. He scored six points for the Buckeyes in the waning minutes of the first half to power Ohio State to a 42-34 lead at the break.

Syracuse stormed out of the locker room as Devendorf scored SU's first five points in the second period. His triple with 19:07 left in regulation put him over the 1,000-point mark, and he ignited a 9-2 Orange run that cut the lead to 46-43 three minutes into half.

But once again the Buckeyes rebuffed the Orange's charge. Ohio State scored 10 of the game's next 11 points to lengthen its lead to 12, 56-44. Jamar Butler capped the spurt with a three and Koufos contributed five more points in the run. The surge sealed the victory for the Buckeyes as the Orange never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

Three-point shooting was the story for Ohio State. It connected on 9-of-19 attempts from beyond the arc (47.4 pct.) and hit 5-of-8 in the second half. Syracuse was just 5-of-25 (20.0 pct.) from long range in the game.

Twelve of Butler's 14 points came via the triple as he hit a team-best four. Koufos was 2-for-3 from deep and three other Buckeyes converted one 3-point basket apiece.

Koufos notched a game-best 24 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds. Hunter chipped in with 15 points and eight boards, and Diebler added 12 points.

The Orange will play Washington in the tournament's consolation game at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 23 on ESPN. The Huskies lost to Texas A&M, 77-63, in the Wednesday's first semifinal.

The Aggies and Ohio State will meet for the tournament championship at approximately 7 p.m.