No. 7 Syracuse 78, Rutgers 53: Brandon Triche drained five 3-pointers and finished with a season-high 25 points as the host Orange gave coach Jim Boeheim his 903rd career victory to move him past Bob Knight into second place on the all-time wins list.
C.J. Fair poured in 15 points and Michael Carter-Williams added 12 points and 10 assists – the ninth double-digit effort for the nation’s assist leader this season – for Syracuse (13-1, 1-0 Big East), which defeated the Scarlet Knights for the 13th straight time.
Eli Carter also hit five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points while sophomore Kadeem Jack pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds for Rutgers (9-3, 0-1).
The Scarlet Knights took their last lead at 20-18 on a jumper by Carter with 8:06 left before intermission, but missed their final 12 shots of the half while Fair scored six of the Orange’s 21 consecutive points to send Syracuse into the break with a 39-20 advantage.
The Orange stretched the lead to as many as 29 points in the second half, extending the longest home winning streak in the country to 33 games.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Syracuse has not lost to Rutgers since 2003 and has only dropped one home game all-time to the Scarlet Knights in 24 meetings, with the lone setback coming back in 1975 – the year before Boeheim took over the program. … Rutgers did not shoot its first free throw until the 14:25 mark of the second half but finished 7-of-8 from the foul line. … Triche fell two points shy of his career high – a 27-point effort against Oakland during his freshman season.
Rutgers | Syracuse | |
Eli Carter 19 | Scoring | Brandon Triche 25 |
Dane Miller 5 | Assists | Michael Carter-Williams 10 |
Kadeem Jack 13 | Rebounds | Jerami Grant 5 |
Vincent Garrett 2 | Free Throws Made | C.J. Fair 7 |
Myles Mack 2 | Steals | James Southerland 4 |
Kadeem Jack 1 | Blocks | C.J. Fair 3 |