Syracuse-DePaul: Orange Make Demons Feel Blue

Syracuse improved to 3-0 in Big East conference play last night after an 85-68 victory over the DePaul Blue Demons.

The Orange raced out to a 47-31 half time lead and never looked back.

Andy Rautins—one of six Syracuse players in double figures—paced his teammates with 17 points and six assists while sophomore Dar Tucker scored 18 points to lead DePaul.

Rautins continued his torrid three-point shooting by draining five of 10 triples. In his last four games, the junior is shooting 57 percent (25-of-44) from behind the arc and 40 percent on the season.

He’s also been Syracuse’s leading scorer during that stretch.

Last nights’ game marked a return to action for junior Paul Harris, who missed the previous contest against South Florida with a finger injury.

Harris lived up to his nickname of “Do It All Paul” by scoring 14 points, grabbing nine boards, and blocking four shots in 32 minutes of action.

He also became the 50th player in Syracuse history to score 1,000 points.

Point guard Jonny Flynn, although he struggled shooting (3-of-11), chipped in 12 points and dished out eight assists while Arinze Onuaku posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Rick Jackson and Eric Devendorf rounded out the attack with 11 and 13 points, respectively.

While the Orange did light up the scoreboard to the tune of 85 points, they can thank their defense for this win.

Syracuse held DePaul to 41 percent shooting on 27-of-66 field goals including only 6-of-18 on three-pointers.

The Blue Demons certainly didn’t help themselves from the free throw line either as they converted a mere eight of 19 attempts.

Combine that with 13 turnovers and DePaul suffered through a long evening.

Syracuse is right where they want to be after three league games. They travel to Rutgers on Saturday for what should be another winnable game. But after that tilt, the schedule becomes markedly more difficult.

Starting Jan. 14th, the Orange begin a brutal four-game stretch at Georgetown, at home versus Notre Dame, back on the road against Pittsburgh, and then home again to take on Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals.

The talk all year long has centered on the strength and depth of the Big East, so notching victories in these early games against lesser competition is critically important if Syracuse intends to compete for the conference title.