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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse captured its season-best sixth-straight win and second of the BIG EAST season after an 89-77 victory against the University of South Florida in front of 18,860 fans at the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon. Freshman forward Donte' Greene powered the Orange offense with a team-high 21 points while collecting nine rebounds.
In a match-up that pitted two of the BIG EAST's premiere post players against one another, Orange junior center Arinze Onuaku and USF senior center Kentrell Gransberry did not disappoint. Onukau tallied his fifth-career double-double and second in as many outings after posting 16 points and 12 rebounds. Gransberry led the Bulls' inside efforts with 14 points and 13 boards.
The Orange raced out to a 15-7 lead early behind seven-straight points from Greene. Freshman combo guard Scoop Jardine found Greene for a lob after the 6-11 forward converted a nifty spin move on the baseline for a lay-in. Minutes later, Greene drained one of his two three-point baskets. Greene, ranked third in the conference with an 18.9 points per game scoring clip, eclipsed the 20-point barrier for the ninth time this season.
Jardine made his fifth-straight start in the wake of junior Eric Devendorf's season-ending injury against East Tennessee State. The Philadelphia native mixed 14 points with a career-high eights assists and six boards.
Syracuse extended its lead to 12 points following another triple from Greene at the 1:11 mark. A strong move to the hoop off the bounce from sophomore Paul Harris pushed the SU advantage to a game-high 14 points 43 seconds before the intermission
The second half proved to be much of the same story with the Orange controlling the tempo from the first whistle. SU twice pushed its lead to 19 points following an electrifying two-hand dunk from Greene and fast-break lay-in from Jardine. Syracuse owned a 31-14 fast-break advantage against the Bulls.
Harris, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, turned in yet another blue-collar effort, earning his 15th-career double-double and eighth of the season after totaling 20 points and posting 13 caroms.
The Orange dominated the interior, beating the Bulls on the glass 53-36 while scoring 25 second-chance points against USF's 14.
Freshman point guard Jonny Flynn orchestrated the SU offense to a 51.4 percent scoring clip from the field, besting the 50-percent plateau for the eighth time this season. The explosive Syracuse attack featured all five starters in double figures for the sixth time. Flynn recorded 12 points and dished six assists in the win.
USF freshman guard Dominique Jones led the visitors' on the offensive end with a game-high 23 points. Sophomore guard Chris Howard tallied a career-best 19 points. The Bulls struggled to find a shooting rhythm from the outside, totaling a paltry 23.1 percent long-range performance.
SU handed the Bulls just their second loss in the last 12 outings.
Syracuse (12-3, 2-0) returns to the road for the first time since December 5 and continues the BIG EAST schedule at Cincinnati on Wednesday, January 9 at 8:00 p.m. SU fans can catch the Orange and Bearcats live on ESPN Regional (Time Warner 26).