Syracuse University
Seton Hall
Syracuse Sends the Pirates Sailing with 100-76 Victory in BIG EAST Season Opener
12/30/2008 9:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – #13/t11 Syracuse opened conference play Tuesday night with a 100-76 victory against BIG EAST foe Seton Hall. Juniors Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf led the Orange in scoring with 26 and 20 points, respectively. Rautins was 7-of-10 from outside the arc and Devendorf tied for team honors with five assists.
A crowd of 23,152 was on hand to witness the first time since the 1994-95 season that the Orange broke the 100-point barrier against a BIG EAST opponent. Syracuse defeated Providence 100-76 on February 8, 1995.
Sophomores Rick Jackson and Jonny Flynn eached added 14 points to the Orange total, and junior Arinze Onuaku rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points. Freshman Kris Joseph and senior Kristof Ongenaet led the Orange defense with eight rebounds apiece, while Jackson and Onuaku added seven apiece.
Syracuse grabbed an early 7-2 lead, but Seton Hall's Eugene Harvey tallied four-straight free throws to bring the Pirates within one of the Orange. A free throw from Jackson put SU up by two, 8-6, but a layup from Pirate Jeremy Hazell tied the game, 8-8.
The Pirates stole the lead a few moments later after another Hazell layup, but the Orange took control right back to lead, 13-12, after Flynn sank back-to-back buckets from the free throw line around the 16 minute mark. From there, the score remained in favor of the Orange despite the Pirates keeping within a point of taking the advantage on three separate occasions.
A Devendorf three-pointer at the 10:24 mark sparked a 25-8 SU run to bring the score to 45-27 with a little more than four minutes to play until the break. Devendorf posted 11 of SU's points with his final score of the run coming off a steal around midcourt for a layup. Rautins added nine points during the stretch courtesy of three trifectas. The two teams headed to the locker rooms with Syracuse leading, 54-35.
The Orange went 19-for-33 (57.6 percent) in the first period, sinking 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) three-pointers. SU held SHU to 33.3 percent (11-of-33) from the field, with the Pirates going 0-for-11 (0 percent) from beyond the arc.
Seton Hall's Harvey opened the second half with back-to-back baskets, but Syracuse answered with a six minute, 17-7 run that began with a Jackson dunk and pushed the margin to 71-46. Rautins contributed eight of the Orange's points, including his sixth trey of the evening.
Syracuse continued to build its lead and was up by 31 points with 8:09 to play, 86-55. Onuaku slammed in back-to-back dunks to cap of a 13-7 Orange run. His first came after off a pass from freshman Mookie Jones, and his second off a missed Orange layup. Two minutes later, Jackson and Jones recorded two more dunks for Syracuse for a 92-60 advantage.
The Pirates fought back with an 11-2 run, but it wouldn't be enough as time began to run out. With 48 seconds left in the game and Syracuse leading 97-73, Jones sank a trifecta to put the Orange into triple-digits.
SU shot 56.5 percent (35-of-62) and was 12-of-22 (.545) in three-point shooting. The Orange defense held the Pirates to only 37.5 percent (27-of-72) from the field and a meager 2-of-27 (.074)from the three-point line.
Hazell (23 points) and Robert Mitchell (22 points) led the Pirate scorers. Mitchell also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for SHU.
Syracuse is back in action on Friday, January 2 at South Florida. The Orange will return to the Dome for a 7:00 p.m. matchup on January 7 with the DePaul Blue Demons. Tickets can be purchased online at SUathletics.com, by phone at 1-800-DomeTix or in person at the Carrier Dome box office during regular business hours.
