Kris Joseph likes his time on the Syracuse bench, even though it's
beginning to get briefer as the season moves along.
Joseph, the Orange's standout reserve, had a career-high 23
points and Arinze Onuaku added a season-high 20 as No. 3 Syracuse
beat Providence 85-68 on Tuesday night.
"The main thing for me was doing what I do, which is being
aggressive off the bench when the team needs a spark," said Joseph,
who has averaged 33 minutes over the past four games after playing
just 22 at Notre Dame. "That's what I've been doing all year.
That's something I don't want to stop doing."
In the Orange's previous three games, Joseph averaged 14.6
points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists, going 15 of 29 from the
field. Against the Friars, he was 9 of 11 and contributed four
steals, combining with Onuaku to score 20 of Syracuse's first 26
points.
Syracuse (22-1, 9-1 Big East) has won nine straight and is
off to the best start in school history. The Orange were 21-1 in
1979-80, but they had never won 22 of their first 23 games to begin
a season.
"We'll go down in [school] history for this," said Wes
Johnson, who sat out most of the second half after a hard fall.
"It's a good feeling."
It was the second game of an eight-game span in which the
Friars (12-10, 4-6) will face six ranked teams. They beat then-No.
19 Connecticut 81-66 last week to knock the Huskies out of the
national rankings but couldn't cope with Syracuse's inside
strength.
The Orange repeatedly pounded the ball inside to Onuaku, who
was 10 of 12 from the field and had half of Syracuse's eight
blocks.
"I thought Arinze was really active out there," Orange coach
Jim Boeheim said. "He was the most active he's been all year.
Offensively, we played very well in the second half. Defensively, I
thought we did a good job for most of the game."
Syracuse broke open a three-point game with a 22-7 spurt to
start the second half, and they did it without Johnson, the team's
leading scorer. He crashed hard to the court when fouled by Brian
McKenzie while trying to convert a lob midway through the first
half. Johnson remained down for less than a minute, finished the
half, but played only three minutes in the second.
He was barely missed.
"It just shows that they're deep," Providence coach Keno
Davis said. "They've got so many guys that can have big games
against you. And then their defense. They force you outside. They
really understand their defense and they're pretty physical when
you try to rebound. It's just a deep, physical, talented team."
After blowing most of a 10-point, first-half lead, Syracuse
broke open a three-point game with a 22-7 spurt to start the second
half. Onuaku started it with a resounding two-hand dunk, Brandon
Triche followed with a pullup 3-pointer after a Providence
turnover, and Onuaku's tip-in gave the Orange a 44-34 lead with
18:35 to play.
"That was the goal, to dominate inside," the 6-foot-9,
260-pound Onuaku said. "When you get early touches, that gets you
going. That's always good."
With Johnson watching from the bench where Joseph starts
every game, Joseph took over. His three-point play and follow on
consecutive possessions boosted the lead to 64-41 with 11:24 left.
"The game was close coming into the second half," said
Onuaku's partner in the post, 6-9, 240-pound Rick Jackson, who
finished with a career-high seven assists. "Coach wasn't pleased
with the first half, came in and talked to us, and we just came out
how we should have come out in the first half. We came out ready to
play, picked it up and took a big lead."
Triche finished with 15 points and four assists without a
turnover.
Jamine Peterson led Providence with 25 points, freshman
Vincent Council had 16 and Marshon Brooks 14.
Providence, which entered the game ranked fifth in the nation
in scoring at 83.2 points per game, shot 43.1 percent and was 6 of
21 from beyond the arc in barely beating its season low of 63
points.
The teams meet again in three weeks.
"They're a pretty good ballclub," Peterson said. "We play
them again at home, so hopefully we get to get them back."
