Balanced Attack Leads Orange to 88-72 Win Against Maryland in NIT Round Two

Thursday, March 20

Carrier Dome

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

NIT Second Round vs. Maryland

Freshman Jonny Flynn's 23 points led four Orange scorers in double figures in an 88-72 win against Maryland on Thursday.

Balanced Attack Leads Orange to 88-72 Win Against Maryland in NIT Round Two

3/20/2008 9:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Junior center Arinze Onuaku's 10th-career double-double and four scorers in double figures led the Orange (21-13) to an 88-72 victory against Maryland (19-15) in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at the Carrier Dome on Thursday. Onuaku collected 14 points and claimed 14 rebounds in the win.

The Orange returns to the Carrier Dome hardwood on Tuesday, March 25 against the winner of Saturday's Massachusetts vs. Akron contest. Game time is yet to be determined.

Tickets are available exclusively for season-ticket holders online (click here) or at the Carrier Dome Box Office until Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. The remaining tickets will go on-sale to the general public via suathletics.com (click here) or the Carrier Dome Box Office on Friday morning starting at 10:00 a.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for youth and 12-and-under and SU faculty and staff.

Freshman point guard Jonny Flynn tallied a game-best 23 points on 8-for-11 shooting overall, including a blistering 3-for-4 clip from beyond the arc. The rookie floor general dished a club-leading seven assists. Flynn, who played just 14 minutes against Robert Morris on Tuesday due to a back injury, logged 34 minutes of action against the Terrapins.

Sophomore guard Paul Harris tallied his 19th-career double-double and second in as many outings with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He shot an efficient 9-for-12 from the foul line. Harris leads the Orange with 12 double-doubles this season.

Rookie forward Donte' Greene set a new mark for a Syracuse freshman, canning his 86th three-point basket of the season at the 5:42 mark of the first half. He surpasses former Orange standout Gerry McNamara's 2002-03 total. Greene posted 16 points and captured a career and game-high five steals.

Maryland entered Thursday's game ranked 20th in the nation in field goal percentage defense. The Orange tallied a 50 percent scoring clip, matching the highest total yielded by the Terrapins this season. Syracuse shot an even 50 percent in each half, including a 3-for-6 performance from long range in the second frame.

Defensively, the Orange allowed a 59.3 percent shooting performance from the Terrapins the first half behind 18 points from senior James Gist. Syracuse adjusted at the intermission and held the Maryland offense to a 38.7 percent display in the closing 20 minutes. Gist finished the contest with 23 points and sophomore Greivis Vasquez, the Terps' leading scorer at 17.9 points per contest, tallied just eight points on 2-for-10 shooting overall.

Gist and senior Bambale Osby guided Maryland to a 19-12 edge at the 10:23 mark of the first half. However, the Syracuse attack erupted to a commanding eight-point lead, 38-30, following a 12-0 run with 2:26 remaining before the intermission. Flynn supplied the Orange with its first lead of the contest, 32-30, with a triple with 4:44 on the clock and the Orange led 40-38 at the break.

Freshman combo guard Scoop Jardine charged the Syracuse rally on the offensive end. The rookie found a trailing Onuaku for a dunk on the break before converting a left-hand lay-in in traffic and a smooth and contested 18-foot jumper. Minutes following, Jardine finished a spin-move on the left wing with a kiss off the window. He scored six points and four assists in 19 minutes played.

The second half opened a see-saw battle with seven lead changes in the first seven minutes. The Orange's seven-point edge, 61-54, was narrowed to four following a Vasquez trifecta with 10:26 remaining.

Syracuse answered with a 17-4 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes, highlighted by a Flynn between-the-legs bounce pass to Greene for a one-hand flush in transition. Flynn twice supplied Syracuse with a nine-point lead following a fall-away elbow jumper and a three-point field goal from 22-feet out.

All seemed to be going the Orange's way down the stretch. Junior forward Kristof Ongenaet twisted a reverse lay-in through the twice along the baseline before a missed three-point try from Greene was corralled and deposited by Harris as the shot clock expired. Ongenaet finished with eight points and four rebounds.

Osby collected a career-best 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds in his collegiate finale. The Maryland performance at the foul line did not help its cause. The Terps shot a paltry 10-for-19 from the stripe.

Thursday's meeting pitted two of college basketball most experienced bench generals on opposite sidelines. Following the contest, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim has coached 1,048 games, while Maryland's Gary Williams has mentored 947, ranking fifth and ninth, respectively, among active Division I coaches.