After opening 2016-17 with two blowout wins over lesser competition, the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team faced its first major test against the Monmouth Hawks. Thanks to a dominant first half from Andrew White III, the Orange (3-0) passed easily.
White [11]scored early and often as the Hawks couldn’t find an answer to stop him at the Carrier Dome on Friday night. The graduate transfer knocked down three 3-pointers and totaled 18 points in the game’s opening 20 minutes as the Orange cruised to a 71-50 victory.
“I always have to be confident and have to be a leader,” White said. “That was something that I really wanted to do tonight because I knew this was going to be our first time being tested.”
Monmouth—a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference—narrowly missed an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament a season ago. The Hawks scored victories over major programs [12] such as UCLA, USC, Georgetown and then-No. 17 Notre Dame en route to a program record 28-win season.
“That team is a good team, make no mistake about it, they’ll be in the tournament at the end of the year,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim [13] said. “It was a good win, they’re a good team, and we’ll try to get better next week.”
The Hawks (1-2) hung right with the Orange for much of the first half. But every time Monmouth seemed to be gaining momentum, White answered back with a basket.
With just over six minutes left in the first half, the Hawks tied the score at 20. White then grabbed a long rebound and nailed a 3-pointer to give the lead back to SU. One possession later, he nailed another 3-pointer to extend the Orange’s advantage.
White scored six more points in the period as Syracuse headed into the locker room with a 37-29 lead.
“We did a really good job of getting Andrew the ball and he was our offense, he kept us in there when we were struggling a little bit offensively,” Boeheim said about White’s first half performance. “He made big shots and got us some separation.”
White was quiet on the offensive end following halftime, but by that point, Syracuse was pulling away thanks to its defense.
The Orange locked down Monmouth in the second half. The Hawks shot just 21.1 percent from the field in the period and hit just one of its 18 attempts from behind the arc.
“I think that’s what they live on, their 3-point shooting,” Syracuse freshman guard Tyus Battle said. “We limited those shots and they struggled offensively.”
Freshman forward Taurean Thompson [14] was the only other Syracuse player to score in double-figures. He finished with 12 points and added two rebounds. Redshirt senior center DaJuan Coleman [15] added seven points and eight rebounds while sophomore guard Frank Howard [16] registered a game-high six assists.
Syracuse will return to action [17]Tuesday night against South Carolina State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.
Notes:
Battle [18] connected on three of his four 3-point attempts in the contest and finished with nine points.
Thompson went down with an injury following a lay-up late in the second half. He was taken into the locker room and did not return.
