Frosh Brandon Triche has season-high 27 points, No. 5 Syracuse pounds Oakland 92-60

Triche has 27, No. 5 Syracuse beats Oakland 92-60

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Freshman guard Brandon Triche had a season-high 27 points, Wes Johnson added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 5 Syracuse beat Oakland, Mich. 92-60 on Tuesday night.

Syracuse (12-0) has a week before it opens Big East play at Seton Hall. Oakland (6-7) dropped to 0-11 against the Big East in losing its third game to a ranked team this season. The Golden Grizzlies lost on the road to top-ranked Kansas and Michigan State.

Syracuse took control with a 17-4 run that began midway through the first half, with Triche and Johnson each scoring eight points, then pulled away in the second.

Drew Maynard led Oakland with 18 points, while Keith Benson, who has seven double-doubles and was averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds, finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Derick Nelson had 10 points.

Triche was 6 of 6 on 3-pointers and 9 of 11 from the field, and had four assists with one turnover. Rick Jackson had 14 points and Mookie Jones had 13 in just 16 minutes.

Syracuse center Arinze Onuaku, who sustained a bruised right quad in the Orange’s win over St. Bonaventure on Saturday, did not start, played only 5 minutes, and did not score. He was hardly missed on a team with six players averaging in double figures.

Syracuse shot 55.4 percent, had 24 assists on 36 baskets, and held the Golden Grizzlies to 37.1 percent shooting, including 2 of 22 (9.1 percent) on 3-pointers.

After Benson’s basket off the glass moved Oakland within 16-13 at 11:56, Johnson started the Syracuse surge with a steal and layup on a pretty passing play with Kris Joseph.

Johnson’s baseline 15-footer at 10:27 boosted the lead to 23-13, Triche followed with two 3-pointers from the left corner just over a minute apart, and Johnson’s 3 from right wing gave the Orange a 32-17 lead.

Oakland trailed 43-28 at halftime after going 2 of 16 from beyond the arc.

Triche scored the first three points of the second half, then hit Andy Rautins with a behind-the-back pass on a fast break for an easy layup and a 49-32 lead.

Triche then converted a baseline floater and hit his fifth 3 of the game to give the Orange a 20-point lead less than 5 minutes into the half.