Girard Guides Orange Past Seattle, 89-67

Saturday, November 16

Syracuse, N.Y.

7 PM

Syracuse University

2-1,0-1ACC

Seattle

2-3,0-0WAC

Seattle U

Syracuse

11/16/2019 9:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y – In his first career start, freshman guard Joseph Girard III tallied 24 points and led Syracuse (2-1, 0-1 ACC) to an 89-67 victory against Seattle (2-3) Saturday night in the Dome. Four other Orange finished the night in double figures as Marek Dolezaj logged 19 points, Elijah Hughes posted 15, Quincy Guerrier added 14 off the bench, and Buddy Boeheim ended with 10.

Girard's total was the most points from an Orange freshman since Jalen Carey scored 26 points against Connecticut in the third game of the 2018-19 campaign. Syracuse's 89-point outburst represented its most since tallying 95 in an overtime win at Duke last season.

STRONG START
After allowing the first basket of the contest, Syracuse exploded on offense, putting together a 21-7 scoring run to open a 12-point lead in the opening six minutes. The Orange were 8-for-9 from the field, including four 3-pointers, in that span. 'Cuse effectively spread the ball, with Boeheim leading the way with six points and Hughes and Girard each contributing five.

The scoring was plentiful early, as the teams made 18-of-31 combined field-goal attempts in the first 12 minutes of the game. Syracuse's zone defense settled down, holding the Redhawks to 17 points in the final 14 minutes of the opening frame. Syracuse dominated the defensive glass, 18-9, in the opening half.

A two-handed slam from Guerrier ignited the Dome crowd and gave the Orange a 16-point lead with 6:41 remaining. Two minutes later, Hughes blocked an attempt from Seattle's Myles Carter, sending Syracuse on a fast break that was capped off by a Girard 3-ball. The freshman paced the Orange with 13 points in the first half and his team took an 18-point lead into the locker room, 44-26.

REDHAWK RALLY
Trailing 44-26 entering the second half, the Redhawks made six of seven three pointers in the first seven and a half minutes to cut the 'Cuse lead to 11. Seattle outscored the Orange in that span, 22-15. Seattle junior Aaron Nettles drew a foul and drained a shot from behind the arc with 11:42 on the clock, converted the free throw, and shaved the Syracuse lead to seven, 61-54.

CUSE PULLS AWAY
Following the Seattle surge, the Orange went on a 10-4 run of their own to bring the advantage back up to 13. Girard had five points in that stretch, including a 3-pointer off the glass.

Syracuse regained its command and rebuilt its lead to as large as 22 points.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Redshirt Junior Terrell Brown scored a team-high 23 points for the Redhawks.
Dolezaj's 19 points were one shy of his career-high. He made 7-of-8 from the field and tied for team honors with four assists.
Boeheim's four assists tied a career-high.
Girard (24) and Guerrier became the first two Syracuse freshmen to provide double-digit scoring in the same game since March 2018 (Oshae Brissett, Dolezaj).
The Orange held the lead for 38:02.
Syracuse finished 28-of-47 from the field (.596).

UP NEXT
The Orange welcome their second New York opponent to the Dome in 2019 as Cornell comes to town Wednesday, Nov. 20. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and the game will be shown live on ACC Network Extra.

Fans can watch if their cable provider carries the ACC Network. Fans unsure if their provider carries ACCN are strongly encouraged to visit GetACCN.com.

Tickets for Cornell and all regular-season home games are on sale now online (Cuse.com/tickets), by phone (888-DOME-TIX) and at the Dome Box Office located in the Ensley Athletic Center.

For complete coverage of Syracuse men's basketball, follow us on Twitter (@Cuse_MBB), Instagram (cuse_mbb) and like us on Facebook (SyracuseOrange).