Syracuse used an explosive start to the second half to blow open a close game and claim a 93-62 victory over Brown on Monday night. The Orange (6-5) held a six-point halftime edge, but scored 23 of the first 29 second half points to build a 19-point lead over the Bears (8-6) before coasting home.
SU was simply lights out from three-point range, hitting 13-of-21 from beyond the arc, while shooting over 57 percent overall in the game. Five of the six players for Syracuse who attempted at least one triple shot at least 50 percent from deep.
Brown struggled on offense for most of the game, only really finding success on offense during the last dozen minutes of the opening half. The Bears shot 9-of-17 from the field in that span, and a mere 14-of-50 (28 percent) beyond that.
The Orange started the game as if they had not missed a couple weeks of action, jumping out to a 16-4 lead in the opening five minutes of play. SU pushed the lead out to 14 points shortly after on a couple occasions, but Brown outscored them, 13-6, to pull within a half dozen with just over four minutes to play in the opening half. The squads played evenly to the half with Syracuse holding a 38-32 lead at the break.
» Related: The ACC is down. Can Syracuse take advantage?
Buddy Boeheim poured in half of his game-high 28 points in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the second session, outscoring Brown by eight in that time to give the Orange a 57-38 lead. Nine straight SU points pushed the lead out to 29 points with just over nine minutes to play and swelled to 32 at its greatest point.
Joe Girard III backed Buddy Boeheim’s big night with 15 points, seven assists, and five steals.
Jimmy Boeheim and Cole Swider also reached double digits in scoring, each tallying 13 points. Boeheim added a team-high eight rebounds while Swider connected on all three of his long-range attempts.
Kino Lilly, Jr. topped the Bears with 13 points while Tamenang Choh had nine. Dan Friday and Paxson Wojcik each chipped in eight points.
For more Syracuse coverage, Like our Facebook page, follow us @TheJuiceOnline and listen to our podcast.
