Syracuse shot an astounding 62 percent from the floor as the Orange (17-8, 7-5 ACC) cruised to an 85-72 victory against Florida State (16-8, 6-6 ACC) Thursday night in the Carrier Dome.
The Seminoles only led twice in the game, and both leads came two minutes into the first half. After freshman guard Malachi Richardson [14] scored on a jumper to make it 7-6 Syracuse at the 2:14 mark, the Orange refused to look back, going on a 24-11 run from that point. Syracuse was up 31-17 after 8:24 of play.
But the Seminoles wouldn’t go down without a fight. They went on their own run, outscoring Syracuse 22-11 until the end of the first half. Seminoles senior guard Devon Bookert made a last-second three to cut the Orange lead to 42-39.
“I think in the first half we played well offensively," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim [15] said following the victory. “We stopped playing defense, gave them some open looks. In the second half I thought the difference was we didn’t let [Florida State] have any open threes, and by the time they got one, they were out of rhythm.”
Syracuse opened the second half on fire, and senior center DaJuan Coleman [16] scored 6 straight points to rally the crowd and put the Orange up by 9 points to make it 48-39.
“I just wanted to come out strong and keep the team going," Coleman said. “I got in a rhythm and my team did a good job looking for me down low.”
A dunk by freshman guard Franklin Howard [17] with 2:38 to play in the second half capped the scoring for Syracuse, who were up 85-61 at that point. With the clock winding down, the Seminoles scored 11 straight points to make the final score more respectable, but they still fell 85-72.
Graduate forward Michael Gbinije [18] led the charge for the Orange, scoring 22 points and connecting on seven of his eight field goal attempts. In only 21 minutes, freshman forward Tyler Lydon [19] racked up 15 points and 10 rebounds, shooting five for seven from the floor. Bookert led Florida State in scoring with 15 points in 27 minutes played.
The Orange will head to the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where they will face the Boston College Eagles (7-17, 0-11 ACC) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
