SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Dion Waiters had 17 points, Kris Joseph and James Southerland each had 15, and No. 5 Syracuse beat Manhattan 92-56 on Monday night in the NIT Season Tip-Off.
The Orange (2-0) will play Albany (1-1) at home on Tuesday night. The Great Danes beat Brown 77-68 earlier Monday in the Carrier Dome. Gerardo Suero had 29 points and Logan Aronhalt added 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Albany.
Syracuse had won 11 straight in the series against Manhattan, the most recent 87-82 in overtime six years ago. This one was over at halftime.
The Orange were 22 of 38 (57.9 percent) in the opening period, 7 of 13 from beyond the arc, with Joseph hitting 3 of 4 to go over 1,000 points in his career. And the Syracuse defense forced 16 turnovers, blocked seven shots, and held the Jaspers to 9 of 29 shooting (31 percent) as the Orange built a 52-26 lead at the break.
Brandon Triche had 12 points and 7-foot center Fab Melo again was a force down low, finishing with 11 points, a career-high nine rebounds, and four of the Orange's 10 blocks.
Kidani Brutus had 15 points and George Beamon 14 to lead the Jaspers (1-1).
First-year Manhattan coach Steve Masiello spent the last six years on Rick Pitino's staff at Louisville, and no surprise the Jaspers came out with a press. It took Syracuse about five minutes to find a rhythm, and once the Orange did it was off to the races. They had 27 fast-break points and 20 points from the bench in the first half as coach Jim Boeheim again substituted freely.
After Michael Alvarado hit a wide-open 3 to give Manhattan an 8-5 lead, Waiters and C.J. Fair combined to steal an inbounds pass and set up Triche for a slam dunk. That started a 15-0 spurt that included 3-pointers from Triche and Waiters and was capped by Waiters' steal and dunk.
Like Fordham on Saturday, the Jaspers had to work for open looks and there weren't many. Brutus ended the Syracuse surge with a 3 from the left wing, which was in the air as the shot clock buzzer went off and prompted Orange coach Jim Boeheim to shake his head in frustration despite a 20-11 lead midway through the first half.
There wasn't much else to be upset about.
Joseph hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor to surpass 1,000 points for his career, then stole the ball for a slam dunk and a 30-11 lead with 8:08 left.
Another 3 by Brutus off a steal and a layup by Beamon moved Manhattan within 36-22, but the Orange closed the half with a 16-4 run. It was capped by 3-pointers from Triche and Southerland and another steal and dunk by Waiters, giving Syracuse a commanding 52-26 halftime lead.
Just how frustrating it was for the Jaspers was no more evident than in the closing seconds of the half. Deep on the right side and not open, Triche fired a cross-court pass to Southerland and he drained a 3 in a flash. Eight seconds later, Waiters was slamming home his third steal.
Syracuse didn't score its first basket of the second half until Melo's tip at 13:20 and still increased its lead as the Jaspers committed 10 fouls in the first 6 minutes and the Orange hit nine free throws while holding Manhattan scoreless for just over 5 minutes.
The Orange led by as many as 40 – 75-35 on a Waiters dunk off a steal by Mookie Jones with 9:42 left.source
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