Orange Men Soar over Monmouth to Stay Undefeated

Story by Jacqueline Mundry
Photo by Nikki Jones

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Orange guard Andrew White III scored 18 points, all in the first half, to lead Syracuse (3-0) over Monmouth (1-2) in the second game of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational 71-50 on Friday night at the Carrier Dome. The 6'-7" graduate student had six field goals, including three 3-point baskets, plus three of four free throws.

"He was our offense, he kept us in there," SU head coach Jim Boehem said."My big thing is just getting us into position so that when we go into halftime we are pretty stable," he said.

Syracuse led 37-29 at the half.

While White did not score in the second half, others took up the slack. Freshman Taurean Thompson was the only other Orange player in double digits with 12 points in the game.

Defense wins games

Syracuse ran off six straight points to start the second half and eventually built the lead to 25 before Boeheim emptied his bench.

 “I knew we were capable of doing that," White said. "If we did our job, we could have a game like we did tonight, with the zone being our staple. Once we capitalized on errors from previous games, coming into this game, we were more prepared for what was going on and we knew our spots better. It was time for us to put together a complete zone.”

The Orange defense held Monmouth to 31 percent from the field, and only 4-for-29 from behind the arc.

"Our defense was pretty good," Boeheim said. "We were pushing them off spots and making them take tough shots. And I thought to start the second half we were really efficient and got on the board."

Monmouth shot just 21-percent in the second half, falling to 1-2 on the season.


Playing like a freshman

Thompson went 5-6 on the night scoring 12 points for the Orange. Despite the offensive number, Boeheim was not entirely impressed.

"He was very good on offense and he gave up about five baskets on defense," he said. "He's got to learn. Just because you can make two jump shots, if you give up 10 points on the other end it's not a positive."

High Praise

Regardless of the blowout win on the scoreboard, Boeheim and his team praised the Hawks.

"That team's a good team make no mistake about it they'll be in the tournament this year, I think," Boeheim said.

"We had to force them to drive and cut them off,"said point guard Frank Howard, who had nine points and eight assists on the night.

With this being a bigger test than the previous two games, Howard said he gives himself and his team a grade of B-/C+.


Up next

The Orange will be back at the Carrier Dome on Tuesday to host South Carolina State for game three of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational.

The Hawks will look to snap their two game losing streak when they host Cornell on Tuesday.