Eight Orange Men Score in Double Figures, as Syracuse Rolls 105-57

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - After another loss against its former Big East rival Georgetown over the weekend, the Syracuse Orange men bounced back Monday night against Eastern Michigan.

For the first time ever, eight players scored in double figures for the Orange, as Syracuse soared past the Eagles, 105-57, in front of 16,778 fans at the Carrier Dome.

Quick Start

After back-to-back threes from Andrew White and Tyler Lydon,  Frank Howard jammed the ball home, sending the Orange faithful to their feet early, as Syracuse jumped out to a 10-2 lead with less than four minutes gone by. Howard finished with his third double-double of the season, as the sophomore guard dished out eleven assists, to go long with his ten points.

Immediate Impact

After a poor performance against the Hoyas on Saturday afternoon, Taurean Thompson immediately made his presence felt against Eastern Michigan. The freshman hit a layup ten seconds after checking in, then drilled a three from the baseline, extending his team's lead to 13. Thompson then found Howard for three, and the Orange jumped out to a 22-6 lead with 11:26 to go in the first half. Thompson finished with eleven points, and a career-high five assists.

"He can shoot, and he's a good passer," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. "He has good hands, and he's a really good offensive player."

"There wasn't a lot of pressure," Thompson said. "They weren't aggressive with their zone, so it was really easy, actually."

Sharing The Wealth

It was a bounce back game for most of the Orange men, including John Gillon. After a dreadful game against Georgetown, in which the Orange only mustered 10 assists, Gillon almost matched that total against the Eagles, finishing with nine (season high), to go along with his 14 points. The Orange finished with a season-high 34 assists, on 37 field goals, shooting a solid 59 percent.

DaJuan Coleman's dunk at the end of the first half gave the Orange a 28-point lead.

Lydon Hurt

After a season-high 29 points on 12-13 shooting against the Hoyas on Saturday, Tyler Lydon started in similar fashion against the Eagles. The sophomore scored 12 points in just 16 minutes, before coming down awkwardly on his right foot with 4:19 left in the first half.

Lydon limped back to the locker room, where he was diagnosed with a right achilles strain. He watched the second half from the bench.

Asked about Lydon's status after the game, Boeheim answered tersely. "I don't know," he said. "We'll see."

Second half - no let up.

Syracuse continued to pour it on the Eagles, as back-to-back threes from  White and Gillon put the Orange up 58-24, with less than a minute gone by in the second half. An 18-7 run by Syracuse saw its lead balloon to 39 with 14 minutes to go. Back-to-back threes from Andrew White put the Orange up by 42 at the 12 minute mark, and it was smooth sailing for Syracuse the rest of the way.

"Once they got up, we weren't scoring and we began to lose a little bit of confidence," Eastern Michigan head coach Rob Murphy said. "Anytime you play that effectively and that efficient offensively, you put yourself in position to win."


Way to Battle

After missing a week of practice going into the Georgetown game with an injured foot, Tyus Battle didn't look like it bothered him at all. The freshman finished with 18 points on 5-9 shooting in 23 minutes.

Capitalizing on Mistakes

On Saturday, Syracuse couldn't capitalize on Georgetown's turnovers. Despite 19 turnovers by the Hoyas, the Orange only turned them into 13 points. Against an inferior opponent on Monday night, Syracuse made sure not to let that happen again, scoring 26 points off the Eagles' 20 turnovers.


Pump the Brakes

In what has been an underwhelming season so far for the Orange, Syracuse did what it needed to do on Monday night, but it wasn't a flawless performance. The Orange matched its season high with 17 turnovers, but the Eagles only converted that into ten points. Syracuse did however hold the Eagles to 35 percent shooting (23-66), and just 5-26 from behind the arc.

"I thought our defense was better, and I thought, in the second half, our rebounding was better, but we have a lot of work to do," Boeheim said.


Looking Ahead

Syracuse (7-4) will be back in action on Wednesday night to take on another former Big East rival, as St John's (5-7) comes to the Carrier Dome. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. Eastern Michigan (6-5) will head home to take on Marygrove College on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m.