National Basketball Association
Syracuse 95, St. John's 70
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, February 4, 2012
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials:
# James Breeding, # Tim Clougherty, # Michael Stephens
Attendance:
19979
By SportsDirect Inc.
Fab Melo returned to the lineup and No. 2 Syracuse returned to dominant form in a 95-70 rout at St. John’s on Saturday.
Melo, who missed three straight games due to academic issues, scored a career-high 14 points, added two blocks and provided a massive presence in the middle of the floor. Syracuse (23-1, 10-1 Big East) went 2-1 in the 7-footer’s absence but were outrebounded by double figures in a pair of those contests. By halftime at Madison Square Garden, though, the Orange were plus-18 points in the paint and plus-12 in rebounding, helping push Jim Boeheim into a tie with Dean Smith at No. 3 on the all-time wins list with No. 879.
Melo was just one of five scorers in double figures for Syracuse, which spread out a 15-0 run over both sides of halftime to take a commanding 50-27 lead with 16:42 left. The depth and speed of the Orange outran the Red Storm in the open floor, as ferocious dunks by Michael Carter-Williams and Dion Waiters signified the Big East’s best team was back in top form.
D’Angelo Harrison had a game-high 23 points for St. John’s (10-13, 4-7 Big East), but the team full of underclassmen allowed Syracuse to shoot 55.7 percent. The loss snapped a two-game conference winning streak, as the Johnnies fell to 0-9 against ranked opponents.
Top Game Performances
| Syracuse |
|
St. John's |
|
C.J. Fair 14 |
Scoring |
D'Angelo Harrison 23 |
|
Brandon Triche 5 |
Assists |
D'Angelo Harrison 5 |
|
Kris Joseph 8 |
Rebounds |
Maurice Harkless 8 |
|
Fab Melo 4 |
Free Throws Made |
D'Angelo Harrison 8 |
|
James Southerland 2 |
Steals |
Sir'Dominic Pointer 3 |
|
Rakeem Christmas 2 |
Blocks |
Sir'Dominic Pointer 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Syracuse
|
95 |
55.7 |
7-21 |
10-14 |
23 |
38 |
5 |
5 |
10 |
| St. John's
|
70 |
40.4 |
7-15 |
17-28 |
14 |
25 |
2 |
6 |
10 |