Syracuse 102, UAlbany 85: Orange offense turns up with a century in first convincing win

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – With the Syracuse Orange ahead by just six points halfway through the opening half, head coach Red Autry inserted Kyle Cuffe into the game.

He’d played just 22 minutes all season entering Tuesday night’s game, scoring just five points, but with JJ Starling injured, Syracuse needs everything that it can get from the guards off the bench.

And for six first-half minutes, Cuffe gave SU exactly that.

12 seconds after entering, he nearly mishandled a jump pass from Donnie Freeman - who flashed to the foul line against the UAlbany zone defense. But when Cuffe recovered the ball, he still had enough space to launch a three over the head of Kacper Klaczek. It marked Cuffe’s first three-pointer of the season.

A few possessions later, Jaquan Carlos pushed the ball off a UAlbany miss, and found Cuffe in that same right corner, drilling a three before UAlbany could properly contest.

Cuffe attacked the basket, drawing a foul at the rim right before the under eight media timeout, and made both free throws. He finished his impressive stretch with four minutes left in the half, beating all of the Great Danes back down the floor for a transition layup.

It was 10 points in five minutes, doubling his season output, and giving the Orange enough breathing room to cruise to an 102-85 win over UAlbany inside the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday night.

Autry changed around Syracuse’s starting lineup, sending Donnie Freeman to the bench for “personal reasons,” putting Jyare Davis in his place, and finally putting Elijah Moore, who fans had clamored for, into the first five instead of Lucas Taylor.

On the game’s opening possession, Davis curled off a screen from Chris Bell to catch the ball at the foul line, and went to work on the 6 foot 4 DeMarr Langford Jr. Davis took advantage of the mismatch, pounding his way to the basket, and allowing the rather sparse crowd to take their seats.

Within moments though, Syracuse fans were thinking that they could be in for another grinder, as UAlbany took a 7-2 lead when Kheni Briggs banked in a deep three. On the ensuing Danes possession, Langford was fouled, and had a chance to extend the lead to 7. That however, would be the high water mark for the Great Danes, as he missed both free throws.

Jaquan Carlos beat the ball pressure from Byron Joshua, and lobbed a pass from the wing to a cutting Davis, who slammed the ball in for an alley-oop dunk. It’s just Davis’ third dunk of the year, despite scoring as much as he has around the rim.

Davis continued to abuse mismatches, posting up Damon Strand en route to another easy layup, tying the game at nine after the first media timeout.

By the time Cuffe’s run started, the Orange had gone to a plethora of different lineups, including one with Petar Majstorovic that gave SU a boost in a different way. During Cuffe’s run, Majstorovic stole the ball from Amar’e Marshall, and both he and Cuffe chased for the ball in transition, with the Serbian feeding Freeman for a transition dunk.

At the end of the first half, Syracuse had the last possession, and Eddie Lampkin wanted to launch an open three, but held himself back, delivering a stellar pass to Chris Bell for an and-1 layup that put the Orange up by 13 at the break. It was probably the most complete first 20 that Syracuse had played all year, dominating the glass 22-14, and the scoreboard 47-34.

For Bell, he scored 18 points on the night without draining a single three. He’s doing a much better job this season of finding ways to score when his three-point shots aren’t falling.

While Marshall started the second half with a bucket, the Orange were able to push the lead significantly. It was Carlos’ best game for Syracuse, and in the second half, he punctuated his 12-point, 12-assist double-double with a few feeds to Freeman, Davis, and company.

Cuffe’s triples were the only ones that Syracuse hit in the first half, but with five minutes gone in the second, Freeman sunk his first of four threes. He also threw down a couple of dunks in the second half. It was his best half in an Orange uniform, finishing with 18 points, and 24 total on the evening.

Late in the game, ahead by as many as 24, the Orange went to a 2-3 zone, and gave up a series of buckets. Amar’e Marshall had 11 of his 18 points in the second half, including a late three that cut the lead to 11.

Syracuse pushed it back out to 17 though, with free throws from Carlos sealing the deal.

It was a much-needed inferno of offense for the Orange, scoring a season-best 1.44 points per possession. The next game is a big one, with the Georgetown Hoyas travelling to the Dome on Saturday for a rivalry matchup.