Orange Cruises Past #13/12 Cal, 95-73

Thursday, November 19

New York, NY

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

University of California

Scoop Jardine scored a team-best 22 points Thursday versus Cal.

11/19/2009 9:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score | Quotes

NEW YORK – No. 24 Syracuse (3-0) advanced to the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer with a dominating 95-73 win against #13/12 Cal (2-1) at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Nov. 19. The Orange will play the winner of #6/4 North Carolina and #15/15 Ohio State on Friday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. for the tournament title.

Redshirt sophomore #Scoop Jardine# had his best game in an Orange uniform against the Golden Bears. Jardine tallied a personal-best 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting. He also contributed six rebounds and six assists. In addition, Orange junior #Wesley Johnson# recorded a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He also registered a career-best six blocked shots.

Senior #Arinze Onuaku# (12 points) was the team's only other double-figure scorer, but the Orange had eight players score at least eight points Thursday, including redshirt freshman #Mookie Jones#, who tallied eight points off the bench in the second half, one short of his personal best.

The Orange's balanced offense proved to be too much for the Golden Bears, who played without second-leading scorer Theo Robertson. Overall, Syracuse shot 57.1 percent from the floor (36-63), including nine 3-pointers.

Defensively, the Orange limited the Golden Bears, who came into the game shooting better than 41 percent from 3-point range, to 30 percent (6-20) from beyond the arc and 40 percent (30-75) from the field overall. Syracuse also tallied 10 steals and blocked nine shots.

Despite the comfortable final margin, things didn't go the Orange's way in the first few minutes. Syracuse missed its first two shots from the floor and trailed by five early. However, the Orange made up for it, hitting nine of its next 12 field-goal attempts and 11-of-17 overall to open up a 30-16 lead with 8:08 to go in the first half. Syracuse scored nine straight points to start the run and never looked back.

With the Orange in front, 35-23, a three by Cal's Jerome Randle trimmed the lead to nine at the 4:50 mark. But Syracuse scored five of the game's next seven points, including a dunk by Johnson, to extend its advantage to 40-28 with 2:20 left in the opening stanza. Jardine netted the Orange's last four points of half and Syracuse held an 11-point advantage, 44-33, at the break.

Ahead 51-39 in the early stages of the second half, the Orange used a 13-2 run to secure a 23-point lead, 64-41, with 15:25 left in the contest. Jardine and freshman #Brandon Triche# each converted three-point plays in the scoring spurt. A 9-0 run by the Golden Bears briefly cut the SU lead to 64-50, but the Orange tallied eight of the next 10 points to go back up by 20, 72-52, with 8:47 to play.

The Golden Bears didn't any closer than 19 the rest of the way and the Orange cruised to the win.

Randle was only player who provided consistent offense for the Golden Bears. He registered a game-best 25 points, including five of the team's six treys. Jamal Boykin contributed 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Patrick Christopher (12 points) also managed to score in double figures for Cal, but he was 0-for-7 from 3-point range and just 6-for-20 overall.

The victory improved Syracuse's all-time record at Madison Square Garden to 86-77. It was also the 802nd career win for Orange head coach #Jim Boeheim#. Boeheim is two wins shy of tying Eddie Sutton for seventh on the NCAA Division I career victories list.