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Syracuse University
Providence College
Jackson, Rautins Lead #4 Orange at Providence
2/23/2010 9:09:02 PM | Men's Basketball
PROVIDENCE - #4/4 Syracuse (26-2, 13-2) used a strong second half to defeat Providence (12-15, 4-11), 99-85, on Tuesday night at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The win improved the Orange to 11-0 on the road this season, including a 8-0 mark in true road contests and 3-0 in neutral site games.
With the win, the Orange clinched one of the top four seeds in the BIG EAST Championship, earning the double bye to the quarterfinals.
Junior Rick Jackson led SU with a career-high 28 points, while senior Andy Rautins also had 28 points, a season-best mark. Jackson was 13-of-17 from the floor and a perfect 2-for-2 from the charity stripe and added nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and a pair of blocked shots in his career effort.
Rautins' offense performance included a season-high eight three's, one shy of his career-best mark, while dishing out four assists.
Arinze Onuaku and Jackson established Syracuse's inside presence early, netting the first two baskets of the game in the paint. The Friar's countered with an outside attack, using back-to-back three's to stay even with the Orange out of the gate, tying the game, 6-6. Syracuse outscored Providence, 18-5, through the next four minutes to break the deadlock and take a 24-11 lead with 14:13 remaining. Onuaku had eight points in the run while Jackson had six.
The Friars surged, assembling a 22-11 run through the next seven minutes to make it a one-possession game, 35-33, with 7:37 left in the half. Providence netted four three's in the stretch, staying within striking distance due to its accurate shooting from behind the arc.
A Brian McKenzie trifecta at the 7:24 minute mark gave Providence its first lead of the game, which increased, 38-35, on a Marshon Brooks dunk. Rautins answered from the Orange, netting his second three of the game to even the score at 38 with 6:56 left in the stanza.
The hosts closed out the half on a 14-9 run to head into the break with a 52-47 advantage.
Trailing, 55-47 early in the first half, the Orange broke the game open with a 26-2 run, quieting the Friars for six minutes in the stretch. The scoring spurt put Syracuse up, 73-57 with 10:57 left on the clock. Jackson propelled the run with 10 points while Rautins had eight, including a pair of three's.
Providence attempted to close the gap from behind the arc, netting three-consecutive trifectas, but Syracuse used back-to-back baskets from three-point range by Rautins and Scoop Jardine to maintain the distance, 85-71 with 6:44 remaining in regulation.
The Orange outscored the Friars, 14-10, through the remainder of the game to cruise to a 99-85 victory.
Onuaku paired 12 points with nine rebounds while junior Wes Johnson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and five steals. Jardine had eight points and four assists in a reserve roll, while freshman Brandon Triche also dished out four helpers and had three steals.
Providence's Jamine Peterson matched 23 points with a team-best six rebounds while Brooks also had 23 points.
Syracuse returns home to host 7/8 Villanova and ESPN's National College GameDay on Saturday, February 27. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. with a sold out crowd of 34,616 expected to attend.
