Johnson scores 22 in leading No. 5 Orange to 76-71 win over Marquette

Johnson leads No. 5 Orange to beat Marquette

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Wes Johnson scored 22 points, including a momentum-bursting alley-oop, and added 15 rebounds to lead fifth-ranked Syracuse to a 76-71 win over Marquette on Saturday.

Kris Joseph added 14 points for the Orange (19-1, 6-1 Big East) in picking up the slack after the Golden Eagles completely shut down Andy Rautins, who was held scoreless.

The Orange’s hot start to this season marks the fifth time in program history — and fourth under coach Jim Boeheim — that Syracuse has won 19 of its first 20 games.

The Orange have won six straight since an 82-72 home loss to Pittsburgh on Jan. 2.

Darius Johnson-Odom scored 17 and Lazar Hayward added 16 for Marquette (11-8, 2-5), which lost its seventh straight road game. Though they’ve won two games at neutral sites this season, the Golden Eagles haven’t won a true road game since a 78-72 win at Georgetown last Feb. 21.

After trailing by as many as 16 points, Marquette rallied to within 70-64 when Jimmy Butler completed a three-point play with 2:09 left, and Johnson-Odom hit a 3-pointer 18 seconds later.

The Golden Eagles never got closer until Maurice Acker hit a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left.

After trailing for much of the first half, and down by as many as seven points, the Orange took control at the start of the second half to break open a game that was tied at 34.

Johnson opened the half by scoring on a transition layup to put Syracuse ahead of good, and Arinze Onuaku scored on an hard layup at the post, putting the Orange ahead 43-37 and capping a 16-3 run that had begun when Brandon Triche scored on a transition break with 3:44 left in the first half.

The Orange then got the crowd of 29,011 on its feet during a 1:05 stretch in which they scored three consecutive baskets, capped by Joseph feeding Johnson for a perfectly timed alley-oop to put Syracuse up 56-46 with 11:34 left.

The Orange specifically attacked the basket, taking advantage of their size advantage after Hayward was limited by his third foul 1:16 into the second half.

Acker’s 3-point basket with 4:34 left in the opening frame gave Marquette its largest lead, 34-27, but the Golden Eagles were shut down the rest of the way. The Orange came back to the game from the free-throw line after Marquette ran into foul trouble.

Rautins, who entered as the Orange’s second-leading scorer, was bottled up. But he did make a heads-up defensive play with under 3 minutes left in the first half when he ran the length of the court and blocked David Cubillan’s shot, preventing him from making an open layup.

The slow pace established by the Golden Eagles frustrated the Orange, who had difficulty getting their transition game on track.

Marquette freshman guard Junior Cadougan made his college debut, playing a 3-minute stretch early in the second half. Cadougan was expected to start before tearing his Achilles’ tendon.