With 12:29 left in St. John’s 87-58 loss to unranked Syracuse Tuesday night, Red Storm head coach Norm Roberts was charged with a technical foul after pleading his case to officials on a questionable call.
Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf made both of the free throws that followed, and guard Andy Routins made a three-pointer as he curled off a screen on the ensuing posession.
Syracuse’s mini 5-0 run in the middle of the second half was only a small sample of the Orange’s offensive clinic, as they capitalized on an inconsistent St. John’s offense that scored just 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the game.
“I was frustrated that we didn’t meet the intensity of the game early like we should have,” Roberts said.
The Orange, on the other hand, led by as many as 21 in the first half due to Flynn, Arinze Onuaku and Devendorf, who had 10 first-half points of his own and finished with 17 points on 6-12 shooting, including 3-5 from three-point range.
The Red Storm had trouble breaking Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense, shooting 26.9 percent from the field in the first half and just 39.6 percent for the game.
On the other end of the floor, St. John’s could not contain Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn, whose jumpshot off of a crossover move left St. John’s freshman Quincy Roberts paralyzed, extending the lead to 37-18.
“We played somewhat immature, like if things didn’t go our way or we got frustrated,” Roberts said. “We let one play affect the next play. We can’t play like that, not in this league.”
Flynn had 13 points in the first half, putting on an offensive show for the Madison Square Garden crowd made up of mostly Syracuse fans. His salute after a one-handed dunk gave the crowd an early indication that this game was to go the Orange’s way. He finished with 21 points on 9-14 shooting.
“Give Syracuse a lot of credit,” Roberts said. “They played extremely well. We didn’t defend at all in the first half.”
The Orange utilized a size advantage with the 6-9 258-pound Onuaku, whose 8 points in the first half physically dominated Justin Burrell, who weighs 18 pounds lighter.
Syracuse dominated the glass, grabbing 17 rebounds in the first half and scoring 22 points in the paint. Onuaku finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds. Paul Harris had 10 rebounds as well.
In the second half, St. John’s went to work on breaking through the Syracuse zone defense by playing their up-tempo style offense. They scored 16 points off turnovers in the second half, but their speed was not enough to stop 6-9 235-pound Rick Jackson, whose 15 points seemed to counter every meek blow St. John’s threw.
St. John’s trifecta of D.J. Kennedy, Paris Horne, and Justin Burrell all contributed for the Red Storm on a night of consistently erratic offense. Kennedy had 11 points while grabbing 8 rebounds, Horne led the team with 17 points and had three steals, and Burrell had eight points despite being covered by the
larger Onuaku.
Sean Evans quietly caused two offensive fouls and another turnover off a double-dribble in the first half, and finished with 13 points.
“I want to remember this game, because it’s going to make us work harder,” Horne said.
At 11:41 in the second half, a t-shirt was thrown onto the court. As fans from the St. John’s student section returned fire by tossing shirts of their own, a wave of ‘Let’s Go Orange’ chants erupted, as did the scoring of Onuaku and Jackson.
Syracuse scored a whopping 56 total points in the paint.
Thin win marked Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s 31st 20-win season, setting a new NCAA Division-1 record.
“I don’t think about it.” Boeheim said. “I don’t really evaluate myself. I didn’t expect to last more than ten years at Syracuse anyway.”
St. John’s (13-15, 4-11) plays DePaul Saturday at noon.
