Alan Griffin scored 23 points and Joe Girard III added 21 Saturday night as Syracuse never trailed and rolled to an 87-52 victory over visiting Rider, which was playing its season opener.

The Orange (3-0) posted their second straight lopsided win over a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent after struggling to beat Bryant in their season opener on Sunday. They dominated from the opening tip without leading scorer Buddy Boeheim, who missed a second straight game while quarantining after being in close contact with a teammate who tested positive for COVID-19.

Griffin scored 16 points in the first half when Syracuse made 12 of 18 3-pointers. He hit his first four 3-pointers and shot 8 of 11 from the floor overall.

Girard scored 13 points in the blistering opening 20 minutes and made 6 of 12 3-point tries after missing 12 of 15 3-point attempts in the first two games.

Quincy Guerrier added 11 points and seven rebounds for Syracuse, which shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) and hit 15 3-pointers overall.

Griffin and Girard also combined for 10 assists as Syracuse finished with 24 helpers.

Rider (0-1) played its first game with 12 newcomers after losing nine players from last year's 18-win team. Projected to finish last in the 11-team MAAC, the Broncs traveled to Syracuse after its first three games against Penn State, Rutgers and Fairleigh Dickson were called off due to a positive coronavirus test in their program.

Dwight Murray Jr. scored 20 points to go along with six rebounds and six assists. Murray was Rider's lone double-figure scorer as the Broncs shot 29.3 percent (17-of-58)

Syracuse came out scorching, hitting eight of its first nine 3-point attempts, 10 of its first 12 shots overall and took a 29-8 lead on a 3-pointer by Girard with 10:54 remaining. The lead grew to 46-20 on a 3-pointer by Woody Newton with 3:29 remaining and the Orange held a comfortable 49-29 lead at halftime.

Syracuse started slowly in the second half but took its first 30-point lead on a 3-point play by Guerrier that made it 66-35 with 9:33 remaining.

--Field Level Media