Syracuse Outlasts UNC Asheville, 72-65

Thursday, March 15

Pittsburgh, PA

3:10 p.m.

Syracuse University

UNC Asheville

Scoop Jardine had all of his 11 points in the second half and dished out seven assists

Photo by: Stephen Parker

3/15/2012 4:25:40 PM | Men's Basketball

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PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The top-seeded Syracuse University men's basketball team (32-2) rallied from a four point halftime deficit to defeat No. 16 UNC Asheville (24-10), 72-65, in second round action of the NCAA Tournament at the Consol Energy Center.

The 32 victories sets a new program record for most wins a single-season, and now the Orange will meet Kansas State on Saturday in third round action for a berth in the Sweet 16.

James Southerland led four players in double-figure scoring with 15 points; 13 of which came in the second half. Dion Waiters and Kris Joseph each had 12 points, while Scoop Jardine tallied all 11 of his points in the second half. Joseph, Southerland and Rakeem Christmas led SU on the boards with eight, eight and seven rebounds, respectively. The eight rebounds for Southerland were a career-high. Asheville's J.P. Prime had a game-high 18 points.

The Orange shot 45 percent overall (25-of-56) and hit five of its 23 attempts from long range. UNC Asheville was 43 percent for the game (21-of-49) and hit 10-of-27 from behind the arch. SU scored 34 points in the paint compared to 20 by the Bulldogs and the Orange bench outscored UNC Asheville's 31-18.

Brandon Triche scored four of the first six Syracuse points and his jumper from just inside the arch gave the Orange a 6-5 lead at the first media timeout.

Dion Waiters would then score five quick points off the bench and the two teams would be knotted up at 13-13 with 11:18 remaining in the opening half.

UNC Asheville took a 21-17 when Jaron Lane converted a four point play as he was fouled shooting a three-pointer. However, Waiters responded with another 5-0 run to put SU back ahead 22-21 with 7:35 remaining.

The Bulldogs would then score the next eight points and led 29-22 coming out of the under four media timeout; it's largest lead of the game.

Joseph and #C.J. Fair# converted back-to-back buckets to climb within two at 29-27, but the Bulldogs would outscore the Orange 5-3 in the final minute to lead at halftime 34-30.

Jardine tallied seven quick points out of the locker room, and his uncontested layup at 15:07 gave SU a 41-40 lead and forced a Bulldog timeout. Prime would answer and put the Bulldogs back in front with a basket from long range as UNC Asheville led 43-41 at the opening media timeout of the second half.

The two teams would continue to trade buckets, but James Southerland would connect on his second three of the game to put the Orange back ahead 50-48. Christmas extended the lead to four when he converted on a dish from Jardine with 8:30 remaining.

With the game tied for the sixth time at 54 apiece, Southerland hit a baseline jumper out of a called timeout, and after a defensive stop, Joseph converted an and-one to extend SU's lead to five with 5:41 left in the contest (59-54).

Neither team would score for a three minute stretch until Southerland gave SU its largest lead of the game at 62-54 with 2:36 remaining when he buried his third triple of the game from the top of the key.

The Bulldogs would manage to cut the lead to three with 1:04 left, but the Orange iced the game by going 8-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch.

SU will play Kansas State on Saturday at 12:15 p.m. Kansas State defeated Southern Miss by a score of 70-64 in the 8/9 match up of the East Region. KSU's Rodney MuGruder had 30 points in the victory.