St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
13-15, 4-11
Syracuse
20-8, 8-7
St. John's Topped By Syracuse, 87-58
2/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2009
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
"Syracuse played exceptionally well, they did a great job of shooting the ball," said STJ head coach Norm Roberts. "We didn't defend well in the first half. We defended better to start off the second half and we had opportunities to get back into the game, but we botched some plays. We probably played a little bit too fast and missed some shots we had. We knew it was going to be a physical game and we didn't match that early on."
Jonny Flynn scored 21 points and Syracuse (20-8, 8-7 Big East) earned a much-needed win that gave Jim Boeheim his record 31st 20-win season. Boeheim entered the game tied with former North Carolina coach Dean Smith for the Division I record for 20-win seasons.
The Orange had lost seven of its last 10 and dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time since the third week of the regular season, a streak during which they reached as high as No. 8.
The Orange entered the game leading the Big East in shooting at 48.5 percent and they had their best shooting game of the season, going 37-for-57 (64.9 percent). Eric Devendorf had 17 points for Syracuse, while Rick Jackson added 15 on 7-for-8 shooting and Arinze Onuaku had 14 on 7-for-8 shooting.
Syracuse worked the Red Storm inside, outscoring them 56-30 in the paint. The Orange's best shooting game until this was 61.1 percent in an 82-66 win over Rutgers (33-for-54) on Jan. 10.
The Orange closed the first half on an 8-0 run for a 39-18 lead. The Red Storm didn't score for the final 3:46 of the half, missing two shots from the field, a free throw and committing three of its 19 turnovers. St. John's shot 26.9 percent in the first half (7-for-26), while the Orange were 17-for-26 (65.4 percent)
Syracuse scored the first four points of the second half for a 43-18 lead and the Orange led by as many as 31 points, 84-53 with just under a minute to play.
The Red Storm heads to Chicago to take on DePaul at noon (11 a.m. CST) on Saturday, Feb. 28. The BIG EAST matchup will air live on SNY-TV.
