Late Run Leads #2/2 Orange by Huskies

Saturday, February 11

Syracuse, NY

1:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Connecticut

Scoop Jardine scored a season-high 21 points and dished out six assists against Connecticut.

2/11/2012 1:05:55 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- No. 2 /2 Syracuse (25-1, 12-1) broke open a close game with a 22-6 scoring run during the final 6:30 of action to record an 85-67 victory against -/rv Connecticut (15-9, 5-7) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday, Feb. 11. Senior Scoop Jardine scored 11 points during the decisive run on his way to a season-high 21.

The game was played in front of a crowd of 33,430 fans. It is the largest crowd in college basketball this season and the fourth-largest to see a game in the Carrier Dome.

Jardine was 8-for-9 from the floor, including 4-for-4 from three-point range. He helped the Orange to its best shooting performance from three-point range this season as SU hit 62.5 percent (10-for-16) of its shots from behind the arc. Jardine was one of four players to reach double figures in scoring for Syracuse. Sophomore Dion Waiters scored 18 points off the bench, while Kris Joseph had 15 points. Sophomore #C.J. Fair# recorded his second career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

The Orange led by nine at halftime and quickly increased its lead to 11 in the first minute of the second half. Connecticut chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within two at 54-52 on a three-point play by Tyler Olander with 12:37 to play. The Orange built its lead back to nine at 61-52, but the Huskies had another run in them, cutting Syracuse's advantage to 63-61 with 6:26 to play.

Jardine dominated the final six minutes of the game. He hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend SU's lead to 69-61 and put the game out of reach. After a basket by Connecticut's Shabazz Napier, Waiters continued Syracuse's scoring run with three straight points before Jardine hit a layup to increase the lead to 74-62 with 3:01 remaining. Waiters followed with two more baskets and Jardine connected on his fourth three-pointer of the game to give the Orange a 19-point advantage. Syracuse converted 4-of-6 attempts from the free throw line in the final minute on its way to its 17th consecutive victory at home this season.

Connecticut hit four of its first five shots to start the game and jumped out to a 10-5 lead. The Orange responded with five consecutive points, and Brandon Triche's three-pointer tied the game for the second time. The squads traded baskets before Jardine hit a free throw to give Syracuse its first lead of the game and spark the Orange on an 11-1 scoring run. Jardine had four points during the run, which was capped by a Fair dunk on an alley-oop pass from Jardine that gave SU a 25-15 lead with 8:22 on the clock.

With Syracuse leading by nine, 30-21, the Huskies scored five consecutive points to cut the lead to four, forcing an Orange timeout at the 4:31 mark. The Orange extended its lead to six, but Connecticut came back and a pair of Jeremy Lamb free throws cut SU's advantage to 37-34 with 1:41 left to play. Triche hit a jumper with 1:40 remaining as the Orange netted the final six points of the half to take a 43-34 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Syracuse held a slight advantage on the boards (31-29) and scored 22 points off of 14 Connecticut turnovers. SU's bench was again a major factor in the win, outscoring the Huskies' bench, 36-9.

The Orange has a quick turnaround as it is back in action on Monday, Feb. 13 when it travels to Louisville to take on the Cardinals at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Notes: Syracuse's 25-1 record marks the best 26-game start in school history ... The Orange have five regular-season games left this season and two are against Louisville ... Saturday's crowd was the first to top 30,000 this season ... Syracuse is now 23-0 when it employs the starting five of Jardine, Triche, Melo, Rakeem Christmas and Joseph.