Syracuse enjoyed one of its finest offensive games of the season as a balanced offensive attack dismantled Connecticut 85-67.
The Orange shot 59.3 percent from the field, and 11-for-17 from downtown. The last time SU shot this well from distance was Jan. 7 when the Orange shot 40 percent from 3 in a 73-66 win over Marquette.
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“It was good an offensive game as we can have,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We were playing good the whole time.”
Scoop Jardine led the way with 21 points and six assists, going 8-for-9 from the field, and 4-for-4 from downtown. A pair of his 3s led a decisive 18-1 charge down the stretch that turned a slim 63-61 lead late in the second half into a 81-62 rout with under a minute left.
Jardine and Dion Waiters accounted for all of the scoring during the run.
Waiters had one of his more efficient games of the season, needing only 10 shots to score 18 points. He also added four assists.
“You can’t ask for anything better than that,” Waiters said. “Scoop hit two big 3s and that’s what got us going. I knew he was in the zone so we came right back to him and he hit another big one for us. I tried to get myself going to not just stand around and look at him.”
Jardine and Waiters weren’t alone.
Kris Joseph had his second straight solid game shooting the ball, going 3-for-4 from downtown en route to 15 points. The senior also shot 6-for-11 on Wednesday against Georgetown. In the seven games prior to that, Joseph was 3-for-37 from beyond the arc.
“When everyone’s hitting (shots), it’s a lot easier for us to win as you can see,” Joseph said. “When everyone’s scoring, that’s really helpful for our team.”
Joining them in double figures was CJ Fair, who notched a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. He was one of the reasons why SU ended up with a 31-29 advantage on the glass one game after being outrebounded 48-30 by Georgetown.
“We executed well and we got shots,” Boeheim said. “We’re getting pretty good looks and haven’t made them. Today, we got them. We shot the ball extremely well.”
