Box Score

Box Score
Postgame Press Conference Video

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse's defense put the clamps down in the second half after a Big Red 3-point barrage in the first, pulling away late for an 88-73 victory over Cornell on Tuesday evening at the Carrier Dome. The loss was the second straight to a Big East squad and dropped Cornell to 2-2 overall, while the ninth-ranked Orange improved to 5-0.



Senior Ryan Wittman scored 19 points and hit three 3-pointers to surpass Princeton's Brian Earl for the Ivy League career record, ending the night with 282. He added five rebounds and two assists in the loss and became the second player in school history to reach the 1,500-point mark. Sophomore Chris Wroblewski scored 20 points, including 17 in the first half, and drained six 3-pointers. That came after a career-high 22-point night against Seton Hall in his last outing. Jeff Foote notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman Errick Peck had career highs of eight points, six rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes off the bench. Cornell held a narrow 36-35 edge on the backboards.

Syracuse's defense limited the Big Red to 39 percent shooting after halftime and 41 percent for the game, and after the visitors connected on 9-of-19 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, were limited to 4-of-18 after the break. Freshman Brandon Triche had 21 points, while Wes Johnson notched 15 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in the win. Andy Rautins added 18 points and Kris Joseph had 13 points, five steals and four rebounds, including a thunderous alley-oop dunk the in second half that punctuated the victory. SU shot 51 percent from the floor, made 9-of-18 from beyond the arc and was 23-of-28 from the free throw line.

Cornell put a scare into the Orange at the half, trailing just 42-36 after hitting nine 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Wroblewski hit 6-of-7 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc for a game-best 17 points. Both Wittman and Geoff Reeves added six apiece. Syracuse got 10 points from Andy Rautins and nine points and five rebounds from Wes Johnson. The Orange shot 52 percent from the floor and connected on 5-of-10 from beyond the arc themselves, but were nearly neutralized by Cornell's 47 percent from beyond 3-point range. The lead changed 11 times in the first half, but the home team's 16-6 edge in the paint and its 10-2 advantage on fastbreak points was too much for the Big Red to overcome.

Dale opened the game with a 3-pointer 40 seconds into the contest to get the Big Red on the scoreboard, followed by five straight points by Wroblewski for Cornell to put the visitors up 8-5 at the first media timeout. The Orange heated up, hitting three 3-pointers in a two-minute span, including a pair by Rautins, but Cornell used the trey to stay in the game. Reeves and Wroblewski each made one, while Foote was able to put back a Wittman miss to take a 16-15 lead. A bomb by Johnson put the Orange back in front at 18-16 with 12:06 left.

SU extended the lead to five at 24-19, but Wroblewski continued his hot shooting by draining his fourth 3-pointer of the half to make it 24-22 with 9:14 remaining. Despite the Big Red continuing to be hot from outside, with Wittman hitting a long 3-pointer at the end of a shot clock to make it 28-27 Cornell, SU took control with a 7-0 run to regain the advantage and extend its lead to 34-28. Cornell got back within 40-36 and stopped an initial possession by the Orange at the end of the half, but Johnson was able to scoop up a loose ball after an errant pass and put it back in to send SU into the locker room with a 42-36 edge.

Syracuse built the lead to nine (50-41) after answering a trey by Wroblewski and a putback by Foote with 3-pointers by Rautins, his fourth of the game, and Brandon Triche. A three-point play on an acrobatic layup by Triche and a contested 3-pointer by Rautins made it 56-41 and put the Orange comfortably ahead. The lead grew to 20 (63-43) before the Big Red was able to make a mini-run. Errick Peck hit a layup and was fouled, and after Cornell got to an offensive rebound off the missed free throw, Wittman hit his second 3-pointer of the game to match the Ivy League record for 281 career treys with 11:33 left in the contest.

Cornell got it back to 14, but five quick points on the other end for Triche brought the Big Red deficit to 69-50 with under eight minutes to play. The highlight of the final minutes was Wittman draining a 3-pointer with 2:23 left to establish a new Ivy League record with his 283nd shot from long range in his career.

The decisive blow came with Cornell trailing 50-41, before Cornell turned the ball over on four straight possessions. The Orange took advantage and were down 18 (59-41) before Wittman got the Big Red back into its offense with a driving layup.

Syracuse saw a 23-point lead knocked down to 15, and Cornell had three opportunities with momentum to get closer in the final three minutes for a last charge, but it never was able to come.

The Big Red will continue play at the Legends Classic when it faces Toledo on Friday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. at Drexel.