Rautins has 23 as No. 5 Syracuse cruises
January 14, 2010
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP)—Andy Rautins had a season-high 23 points, nine assistsand eight rebounds and No. 5 Syracuse overcame an inconsistent effort to beatRutgers 81-65 on Wednesday night.
Wes Johnson added 11 points and 10 rebounds as the Orange (16-1, 3-1 BigEast) beat Rutgers (9-7, 0-4) for the 10th straight time by getting doublefigures from five players.
Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine added 12 points apiece for Syracuse whichbuilt a 23-point lead early in the second half only to see Rutgers close towithin eight points before losing their fifth straight game.
Mike Rosario, who missed his first eight shots, led the Scarlet Knights with17 points. Dane Miller had 15 points in his first career start.
The game was ugly and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim frequently pulled playersoff the court after bad shots and turnovers.
Rautins was the bright spot for Syracuse. He was 7 of 14 from the field, had11 points early to get the Orange off to a quick start and dominated on bothends of the court.
Mookie Jones came off the bench and scored 8 of his 11 points in a 24-10 runin the final 12 minutes of the first half that gave Syracuse a 41-23 halftimelead. The Orange, who forced 23 turnovers with their 2-3 zone, increased themargin to 23 points early in the second half on a layup by Arinze Onuaku andappeared ready to blow the game open.
That’s when Rosario and Miller combined on a 20-5 spurt that got the ScarletKnights within 53-45.
Rosario scored 14 points, hitting three 3-pointers, while Miller got Rutgerswithin 53-45 with a basket on a goaltending call.
Rautins then hit a jumper and Jardine hit 6 of 8 free throws and made alayup to build the lead to 63-48 with 10:21 to play.
Rutgers managed to get to within nine points twice, but Johnson scored on aone-handed slam and then hit two free throws to end the threat.
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