Syracuse escapes USF with 59-54 win

TAMPA -- After disappointing in nonconference games, after trailing No. 13 Syracuse by 16 at the half, USF showed surprising resilience Friday night, clawing back within three points of the Orange with a shot to tie in the final minute.

Dominique Jones' 3-pointer missed with 33 seconds left, and Syracuse put the game away with a pair of free throws, escaping the Sun Dome with a 59-54 victory on ESPN in an exciting Big East opener for the Bulls.

"I'm not interested in moral victories, but I am proud that we showed a lot of character and more toughness in the second half," coach Stan Heath said. "We're going to need to be that way, to be a team that's going to scrap, outwork and not give up the easy baskets."

There was plenty of orange in the crowd of 8,350, the largest to see the Bulls in the Sun Dome in nearly three years. USF, which upset Syracuse on the same court last season, gave veteran coach Jim Boeheim another scare.

"To play so well in the first half  ... we should have had dominant control of the game in the second half," Boeheim said. "We were just trying to hang on at the end, and we were really fortunate to be able to hang on at the end of the game."

Jones led the Bulls with 17 points, getting 15 in the second half, and USF got a career-best 15 points from center B.J. Ajayi, who hadn't totaled more than five in a game this season.

"I really did surprise myself," Ajayi said. "I don't know where the energy came from, where the motivation came from. I just knew I didn't want to lose."

The Bulls went 4-for-23 on 3-pointers, with guard Jesus Verdejo, USF's top perimeter shooter, missing all 11 attempts beyond the arc and shooting 3-for-17 overall. Fellow guards Chris Howard and Justin Leemow went a combined 1-for-8 from the field.

"Unfortunately, this wasn't one of Jesus's nights," Heath said. "He's been our most consistent guy, so that was a big weapon that was missing from us."

Syracuse (14-1, 2-0) got 13 points and 10 rebounds from center Arinze Onuaku -- who went 1-for-9 on free throws -- while sharp-shooting guard Andy Rautins had four 3-pointers on the way to a team-best 14 points. The Orange played without starting forward Paul Harris, who injured his finger in Syracuse's last game.

USF (5-8, 0-1) played well early, but Syracuse ended the first half on an 11-0 run to lead 35-19. The Orange still led by 16 with 13:20 to play, but USF would not go away.

The arena got loudest with 3:10 to play, when Chris Howard got a steal and fed Jones for a dunk, cutting Syracuse's lead to 55-52. After the teams traded baskets, Jones had a chance to tie the game. Eric Devendorf hit two free throws to seal the win for the Orange.

The crowd was the second-largest in the Sun Dome since the Bulls joined the Big East in 2005, topped only by the 9,636 for USF-Connecticut in 2006. The Bulls stay at home, facing No. 18 Louisville on Wednesday.

Comments

[wow]

USF has a major flaw that needs to be corrected in order for them to win any games. A very simple fundamental called hitting the open man. As long as you have big men in the post that are open and are never even given a look... a loss is guaranteed. The Big East has very few teams that play such a lopsided game, where most of their offensive play is on the perimeter. The selfish ball play of the guards on this team is going to be its demise. Whoever the big man coach is should be highly upset at this point. If you need verification of what I am saying roll the tape and see for yourself. And by the way...interesting starting line-up, makes a real statement!

[Stan's plan]

For those of you who don't know, Syracuse is one of, if not the most undisciplined teams in all of college hoops. They constantly play to the level of their competition. Anyone who knows even a little bit about college hoops could tell you that this game would be close thanks to the Orange.

You will see SU in many close games regardless of the other team's record. It's nice for the fans and coach to say, "Look at how close we are" but in reality if USF were any good the effort from the Orange would be a ton better!

USF is going nowhere fast.

[Ari Hinkelberger]

I didn't watch the second half, but the first half we couldn't shoot it in the ocean...

Stan needs a solid four years to get this thing to 18-13.

Long long long way to go.

[Bulliever]

That was an exciting game to watch...Coach did a great job, really good plays and defense stepped it up in the 2nd half...
We just need these guys to hit a few more shots...Could not believe we blew so many points inside the paint...
And we need at least one more player that can hit the 3 point shot (other than Jones)...

We fix these problems and we are looking good the rest of the way...

GO BULLS!

[RR]

A moral victory.

Fantastic.

[Chalko]

I think it's safe to say the closeness of the game was clearly based on Syracuse's horrible second half play. USF is still a horrible team. Syracuse scored 24 second half points. It's not like USF's defense all of a sudden got good.

[Don Corleone]

If they play the rest of the season like they played in the second half, they'll win some games. It was good to see the Bulls fans shout-down the SU fans once they got rolling. There were plenty of Orange fans at the game, but you don't need much of an excuse to leave the upstate tundra when the forecast is for 12F and snow tonight.

[702JV]

It was nicee to see such a strong effort in the second half. If we only had that in the first half. We really improved on the boards big time.

[Hoop Master]

If they could only play hard all of the time. They have enough players. Syracuse is ranked what? 11th? They just played hard the whole game.

[BullBard]

Greg,

I noticed the louisville game will be televised on ESPN2. If USF shows consistent competitive play could that provide more televised games?