Box Score Box Score
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Undefeated Syracuse brought all the momentum into the game with Cornell on Wednesday at the Carrier Dome, but the 16th-ranked Orange needed a second half rally to overcome a lights out shooting night by Ryan Wittman to earn a hard-fought 88-78 victory. The Orange improved to 8-0 with the victory, while the Big Red fell to 4-4.
Wittman posted a career-high 33 points, his second straight game with a career scoring high, and tied a school record with nine 3-pointers to silence the Orange crowd of more than 18,000 time and again as thr Big Red hit 13 shots from beyond the arc. Geoff Reeves added 15 points and Jeff Foote notched 10 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six assists in the loss.
Cornell outrebounded the biiger and more athletic Orange 36-32 in large parts because of the efforts of Alex Tyler (seven rebounds, eight points), Brian Kreefer (four rebounds) and Adam Wire (four rebounds), each of whom had two of the team's 16 total offensive boards. Chris Wroblewski also was poised in his first game at the Dome, adding nine points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and just one turnover, that coming in the final minutes, while being matched up with All-America candidate Jonny Flynn.
The Big Red led by as many as 16 points in the first half, launching out to a 25-9 lead, but the Orange came all the way back by shooting 75 percent after the break, making 18-of-24 shots. SU finished the game shooting 56 percent.
Jonny Flynn led five double figure scorers for Syracuse with 24 points and six assists, while Paul Harris added 21 points and nine rebounds.Eric Devendorf (15), Arinze Onuaku (12) and Andy Rautins (11) also hit for double figures in the victory.Syracuse went to the line 38 times compared to just seven for the Big Red, as SU drew 28 fouls on the visitors to just 14 for the home team. The Orange had 15 steals in the win, with Devendorf and Kris Joseph each ripping away four passes.
The Big Red got the start it was looking for, jumping out to a 13-6 lead on the strength of six points by Reeves and a pair of great interior passes that led to layups for Tyler and Foote, forcing an early SU timeout. A Flynn 3-pointer with 14:50 left in the half got the Orange back for a moment, but Wittman scored eight points in the span of 1:42 to put the visitors up 25-9 with 11:57 to play, forcing another timeout by the home team. The last came on a long 3-pointer by Wittman to cap the run. Cornell was able to maintain its double figure lead throughout the next several minutes, with Adam Wire finding Tyler on a nifty feed inside for a bucket and Reeves hitting a long jumper to push the edge to 33-19.
With the Big Red holding all the momentum, Syracuse stole it back using full court pressure, picking up two steals and three easy baskets during a 10-0 run over two minutes to slice their deficit to 33-29, forcing a Big Red timeout with 6:18 left. Cornell finally got back on the board with a pair of Foote free throws with 4:09 to play. After Wittman hit a long 3-pointer off an offensive rebound series and Foote scored on a layup, the Big Red went scoreless for the final 2:36 of the half, but the Orange could only get back within five by halftime and Cornell went into the break leading 40-35.
Wittman ended the half with 16 points, including four treysw, while Reeves added 10. Tyler notched six of his rebounds before halftime, while Foote had six points, five rebounds and four assists. SU shot just 39 percent from the floor, but Flynn kept the team in the game with 13 points and three of the team's four assists.
The second half start looked devastating for the road team, as Onuaku completed a three-point play just 17 seconds in to make it 40-38, energizing the crowd, but the Big Red would not surrender the lead or bow to the SU fans, answering with a dunk by Foote on a great pass from Wittman. The Orange finally tied the game after Rick Jackson's steal led to a Jonny Flynn dunk two minutes into the half to knot the game at 42-42. The home team took its first lead of the contest 20 seconds later with a Devendorf layup. Wittman again answered with a 3-pointer, his his fifth of the game, and two more Wittman treys in a little over a minute at the 15-minute mark pushed Cornell's advantage back to five (51-46). Two minutes later, Syracuse would regain the lead for good, breaking the fourth time of the second half with a 12-0 run that turned a 57-57 deadlock into a 69-57 edge. Harris had eight points during the run, including a pair of conventional three-point plays.
Cornell scrapped to get back into the game, cutting the SU lead back to five on two occassions, the last on a Wroblewski trey with 5:25 left, but the Orange answered with a score each time and ran out the clock after pushing the advantage into low double figures late, ending the contest with a deceptive 10-point win.
The Big Red will visit Minnesota on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 2 p.m. ET.
