Tuesday evening, #3 Syracuse had a slow start, but found their stride and blew out an overmatched Eastern Michigan team at the Carrier Dome, 84-48. The Orange (7-0) sent out ten different players for double digit minutes as the margin grew behind their 13 three-pointers as a team. The Eagles (4-3), who are coached by former SU assistant Rob Murphy, were stifled in the second half, as the hosts allowed them to make only 25.9 percent of their field goal attempts after intermission.
The two squads swapped the lead six times in the opening 12 minutes of the game as Syracuse was content to shoot three-pointers instead of trying to work the ball inside Eastern Michigan’s zone defense. Down three at the eight-minute mark, the Orange scored seven straight points to take the lead for good, then stretched their lead to 32-24 at halftime.
SU came out blazing in the second half, starting the session with a 10-2 run to stretch their lead to 16 before three minutes elapsed. The Eagles snipped the margin down to a dozen, but the Orange righted their ship by rattling off nine straight points for a 56-35 lead with just under 11 minutes to play. Syracuse tacked on another 9-0 run to push the lead to 68-40 and shortly after rang up ten more unanswered points for an 80-43 lead with just under three minutes left.
James Southerland came off the bench to lead the Orange offense, matching a career-high of 19 points. Brandon Triche added a dozen points and Kris Joseph chipped in with 11. Those three players combined to sink ten three-pointers in the game, as Triche made four to account for all his points, while Joseph and Southerland each made three.
