MBB | Strong start keys decisive win over Oakland

By: Michael Bonner

Posted: 11/21/08

Paul Harris walked back down the court after an early Syracuse turnover. He looked down at the court, talking to himself while flicking his wrist toward the ground. Only three minutes had passed in SU's game against Oakland, but Harris needed to calm down.

"I was pumped up from the gate," the 6-foot-5 junior forward said. "I told Jonny Flynn I'm ready man. …Oh I was just ready man, from the gate."

Harris' teammates had the same type of energy, jumping out to a quick lead that propelled them to an 86-66 win over the Golden Grizzlies (1-2), in front of 18,932 Friday night at the Carrier Dome. For the second game in three outings this season, the Orange (3-0) has built a 20-point lead midway through the first half.

Friday's matchup wasn't against a Division II foe, like Le Moyne. It was against a strong Oakland team. The Golden Grizzlies returned five starters from last year and were coming off a win at Oregon. Still, the Orange gave itself an early cushion by playing near flawless basketball in the first half.

"I mean it's always better if they don't score, that's better," said junior Eric Devendorf, who had three of his team-high five assists in the early going. "But we had a pretty flawless first half.

The Orange sprinted out to a 22-5 lead in the first seven minutes. Six minutes later, the lead ballooned to 21. At that point in the game the Orange was shooting 11-of-15 (79 percent) from the field. Even more impressive was the ball movement that led to the shots. At that point SU had 11 field goals on 11 assists. To close out the half Syracuse finished with 14 baskets on 13 assists.

"I thought we moved the ball exceptionally well the first half," head coach Jim Boeheim said. "Second half I think we dribbled the ball a little too much but the first half we did a really good job of passing the basketball."

The total of helpers could have been even greater, but many passes that shredded the defense resulted in Golden Grizzly fouls that sent SU to the line. In one sequence, Andy Rautins drew the defender in with a pump fake, then drove into the lane. Kristof Ongenaet's defender left him to cover Rautins, allowing Rautins to drop off a pass to the open forward. Ongengaet was fouled, and made one of two free throws.

"I think this was one of the most unselfish games I've played at Syracuse," point guard Jonny Flynn said. "People were passing up open layups to get other people shots. And no one cared who was getting the basketball."

The passing allowed the Orange to get open looks and cash in from all over the court. Flynn, who had a game-high 18 points, scored 12 of them in the first half. The sophomore guard shot 3-of-4 from the floor and 2-of-3 beyond the arc.

Flynn credited the SU defense with sparking easy, transition buckets. With the Orange up by 15, Rick Jackson came up with back-to-back blocks of Johnathon Jones, Oakland's leading scorer coming into the game. Jackson outletted the ball quickly to Devendorf who found Flynn streaking to the basket for an easy layup to increase the Orange lead to 17.

The largest lead the Orange held in the first was 22, and it entered the locker room up by 19. In the first 20 minutes the Orange shot 58 percent from the field including 45.5 percent from deep. In all, nine players saw action and scored at least a point.

"We moved the ball pretty well in the first half and took control of the game," Boeheim said. "I think whenever you get a big lead, in the second half we tended to ease up a little bit on the defensive end."

The Orange came out strong in the second, buoying the lead to 24, only to have the Golden Grizzlies go on an 8-0 run in 46 seconds. Oakland would cut the lead to 14 at one point, but with just under 12 minutes remaining Syracuse crippled any hopes of an Oakland comeback with a 9-0 stretch of its own.

But it was the Orange's stellar first half play that allowed the team to pad a large enough lead that it never had to look back.

After the game, Flynn was asked if his team could play any better in the first half. His response?

"I don't think so."

mibonner@syr.edu