Triche has 16 as Syracuse gangs up on Maine, beats Black Bears 101-55

Syracuse humbles Maine 101-55

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Freshman guard Brandon Triche had 16 points, Arinze Onuaku added 14 and No. 8 Syracuse beat Maine 101-55 on Saturday night.

It was the fourth meeting between the teams and first since 1996, and Syracuse (8-0) has won them all.

Maine (3-4) never had a chance in this one. Syracuse dominated the first half, taking a 48-point lead into the break as the Black Bears made only four baskets.

Orange coach Jim Boeheim began subbing freely early as 10 players saw action. Mookie Jones hit three 3-pointers to lead all scorers in the opening half, but it didn’t matter who did the shooting. Syracuse was 24 of 35 (68.6 percent) in the period and 8 of 14 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc, though no player broke double figures.

Gerald McLemore finished with 21 points to lead Maine.

Kris Joseph also had 14 points, Mookie Jones scored 12, Scoop Jardine had 10 points and seven assists, and Rick Jackson had eight points and eight rebounds for Syracuse. Wes Johnson, averaging a team-leading 18.4 points, had seven points, three assists, four blocks and two steals in 19 minutes, and Andy Rautins finished with eight points and nine assists.

Syracuse was coming off a dominant victory over Colgate, which trailed 47-16 at halftime, and the Black Bears suffered an even worse fate. Just two nights after Maine won at Colgate by 10 points, it was limited to 12.9 percent shooting — 4 of 31 — in the first half and trailed 60-12 at the break as Syracuse registered eight blocks and eight steals.

That was one point off the Syracuse record for fewest points allowed in a half, set against Princeton a decade ago.

Mike Allison’s follow with 11:25 left in the first half, Maine’s third basket of the game, made it 26-10. But the Black Bears managed only one more basket before the break, and it came on a goaltending call against Jackson in the final minute.

The top three scorers for the Black Bears — McLemore, Sean McNally, and Terrance Mitchell came in averaging more than 13 points — were 3 of 14 for eight points in the half. McLemore hit a pair of 3-pointers, the only Maine player to score more than one basket in the half.

It didn’t take very long for Maine to know it was going to be a long night. Triche hit from the top of the key, Onuaku followed with a lay-in, and Jackson had a reverse layup in a span of just over a minute to give the Orange a 13-3 lead less than 4 minutes in.