Cincinnati Outlasts the Orange, 74-66

Wednesday, January 9

Fifth Third Arena

8:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Cincinnati

Freshman forward Donte' Greene tallied his fourth-career double-double with 25 points and a career-best 12 rebounds against Cincinnati.

1/9/2008 10:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

CINCINNATI, OHIO – Freshman forward Donte' Greene tallied his fourth-career double-double with 25 points and a career-best 12 rebounds, but the Orange could not overcome a 12-point halftime deficit in a 74-66 BIG EAST loss at Cincinnati's Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday night.

Trailing by a game-high 16 points with less than six minutes remaining, Syracuse utilized an 11-2 run en route to cutting the Bearcats' lead to 61-54 following a free throw from freshman point guard Jonny Flynn. Greene provided eight SU points during the stretch, including a fast-break two-hand flush and a smooth turn-around fall-away jumper.

The Orange twice trimmed the hosts' advantage to six points in the final three minutes after a free throw and offensive rebound putback from sophomore forward Paul Harris. However, Cincinnati shot 6-for-8 from the charity stripe down the stretch before halting Syracuse's season-best six-game win streak.

Harris totaled a season-high 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. The Orange boasted just two players in double figures for the first time since March 7, 2007 against Connecticut in the first round of the BIG EAST Tournament (Demetris Nichols, 28; Eric Devendorf, 19).

The Bearcats opened the second half with 10-1 run, extending its lead to 51-35 at the 10:09 mark. Sophomore guard Deonta Vaughn tallied a game-best 29 points on 9-for-16 shooting, including a 4-for-9 long-range display. Senior guard Marvin Gentry collected 12 points and three steals off of second-year head coach Mick Cronin's bench.

Syracuse jumped on the Bearcats from the opening tip, pushing its largest first half lead to eight points at 18-10 with 10:09 remaining. Harris ignited the Orange offense with six of the first eight points, including two free throws after an offensive rebound and a lay-in off a feed from Flynn. Flynn posted nine points, dished four assists and gathered four rebounds.

However, Cincinnati closed out the first half with a 25-5 run on its way to a 35-23 lead at the intermission. The Orange trailed at the break for just the third time this season after mustering just two field goals in the final 10 minutes.

Freshman combo guard Scoop Jardine recorded seven points on 3-for-4 shooting overall, including his first-career three-point basket. While the Orange distributed a season-low 11 assists as a team, Jardine matched Flynn with a team-best four helpers.

Syracuse didn't help its own cause with a 4-for-15 shooting performance from beyond the arc and a 40.7 percent scoring clip overall. Greene connected on a team-high three 3-point field goals.

The Orange lost the rebound battle for just the fourth time this season after Cincinnati held a 39-32 edge on the glass. The Bearcats converted 17 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds.

Syracuse (12-4, 2-1) concludes a brief two-game road swing at BIG EAST foe West Virginia on Sunday, January 13 at 2:30 p.m. SU fans can catch the Orange against the Mountaineers on ESPNU.