Orange Tames Tigers With 72-65 Road Victory

Saturday, December 20

FedEx Forum

6:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Memphis

Sophomore Jonny Flynn led the Orange with 24 points and six assists.

12/20/2008 8:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For the third time this season, the Orange traveled west and emerged with a victory over a nationally-ranked foe. This time, #11/11 Syracuse (11-1) earned a 72-65 victory at #21/23 Memphis Saturday night. Sophomore Jonny Flynn led the Orange, tallying 24 points and six assists in the win.

Junior Paul Harris pulled down a team-leading eight boards and was second on the team with 15 points. Sophomore Rick Jackson tied his career high in points with 14 and recorded seven rebounds.

Syracuse toppled #17/18 Florida, 89-83, and #22/23 Kansas, 89-81 in overtime, during November encounters in the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic played in Kansas City, Mo.

Flynn opened the game for the Orange with an early basket, but Memphis quickly responded with a three-pointer from Wesley Witherspoon that triggered a 16-4 run. The Tigers led by 10 again, 19-9, and were up nine, 21-12, with 9:47 remaining in the opening period. A steal and dunk by freshman Kris Joseph, a junper from Harris and Flynn's steal and layup gave the Orange life, and narrowed the gap to 21-18.

The hosts, thanks in part to back-to-back scores in the paint from Pierre Henderson Niles, pushed the margin back up to seven, 27-20. SU used a three from junior Andy Rautins, a layup by Jackson and and three-ball from Joseph to furnish an 8-2 stretch that brought Syracuse within a point.

Tyreke Evans nabbed a steal and finished with a dunk that had the Tigers up 33-28 with 3:39 before the break but the Orange rallied with seven unanswered points. Flynn drilled a three, junior center Arinze Onuaku tied things at 33 on a dunk and then managed a layup with 26 ticks left to give the Orange a 35-33, halftime margin.

Memphis' Pierre Henderson-Niles opened the second half for the Tigers nailing back-to-back free throws to tie the game, 35-35. The Orange, however, answered with a fastbreak dunk from Jackson to grab the lead again. A short time later, Syracuse had built its lead up to eight, 47-39, before the Tigers would again challenge the Orange advantage.

The Tigers were within one of SU by the 9:16 mark thanks to a Roburt Sallie trifecta. Memphis took the lead, 53-52, moments later after Henderson-Niles scored a layup.

Syracuse was able to keep Memphis from gaining momentum and thanks to a Flynn layup, was back in control of the score less than a minute later. The Orange would maintain the lead for the remainder of the game.

The Orange, relying primarily on its 2-3 zone defense, held the Tigers to .343 shooting (24-of-70) from the field, including a .212 mark (7-of-33) from the three-point line.

Leading the Tigers was Henderson-Niles with 12 points while Taggart grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Syracuse is back in action on Monday, December 22 at the Carrier Dome for a 7 p.m. matchup with Coppin State. Tickets can be purchased online at SUathletics.com, by phone at 1-800-DomeTIX or in person at the Dome during regular business hours.