SYRACUSE — When Arinze Onuaku gets the ball in the lane and decides to shoot, there’s not much opponents can do to stop Syracuse’s 6-foot-9, 258-pound center.
Continuing his impressive shooting touch, Onuaku scored 18 points, point guard Jonny Flynn added 21 points and five assists, and the Orange beat Cornell 80-64 on Saturday night.
Syracuse (9-3) outscored Cornell 58-22 in the paint and its man-to-man defense held the Big Red’s long-range marksmen in check until the game was well in hand.
“A team like this is a 3-point shooting team. We knew down low they didn’t have too much of a presence,” said Onuaku, who was 8-for-10 from the floor. “We knew that was their weakness. We just tried to go on the post early.”
Paul Harris hit a pullup jumper in the lane just five seconds into the game. Onuaku followed with a lay-in and dunk, Donte Greene had a putback, and Flynn made a reverse layup to give Syracuse a 10-2 lead less than five minutes into the game.
“I’ve just been working hard with (associate head coach) Bernie Fine trying to establish myself in the low post,” said Onuaku, who is 30-for-33 from the floor over the past four games and is shooting 69.1 percent (67-of-97) on the season. “I know come Big East (season) we’re going to need a low-post presence.”
The Big Red opened the season with four straight games hitting at least 10 3-pointers and entered the game averaging 44.2 percent from long range, the fifth-best mark in the nation. But against the Syracuse defense, the Big Red missed their first three from beyond the arc and were just 5-for-15 when Onuaku converted a tip-in at the first-half buzzer to put the Orange up 49-30.
“We came out really tentative on defense in the first half,” said Ryan Wittman, who finished with a season-low six points on 2-for-14 shooting for the Big Red, nine below his team-leading average. “They did whatever they wanted.”
A year ago, Cornell led Syracuse with four minutes to play before the Orange finished with a 13-7 run and eked out a 67-62 victory. This one was over by halftime as the Big Red shot just 36.4 percent before the break.
“We were tentative on both sides of the ball to start the game,” Cornell coach Steve Donohue said. “We were afraid of making a mistake and we didn’t guard like we typically can.”
It was Syracuse’s 30th straight victory over Cornell (4-4), and the Orange won easily despite an off night by Greene, their leading scorer. The freshman forward, who was averaging 19.5 points per game, finished with 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting but had 10 rebounds.
Harris had 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Kristof Ongenaet, a junior college transfer from Belgium, had nine points and 10 rebounds, both season highs.
Louis Dale led the Big Red with 15 points, Collin Robinson had 14, and Adam Gore had 12.
After a dunk by Jeff Foote and 3-pointers by Dale and Gore moved the Big Red within 14-10 at 14:23, the Orange used its superior size and quickness to go on 26-10 spurt and take command.
Flynn scored eight points, one basket coming on a one-handed dunk off a lob by Greene, and Ongenaet finished the run with a layup off the glass at 5:57, giving Syracuse a commanding 40-20 lead.
Syracuse outrebounded Cornell 27-15 in the opening period, 11-6 on the offensive glass, and outscored the Big Red 34-10 in the paint. Syracuse finished with a 52-37 rebounding margin.
Even when the Orange failed to score for more than four minutes in the second half, the Big Red didn’t capitalize. After Alex Tyler hit a jumper at 16:59, Cornell missed 11 straight shots until Dale drained a 3 from left wing to snap a scoreless drought of more than 5.5 minutes.
A barrage of 3-pointers - two by Gore and one each by Wittman and Robinson - keyed a 12-2 run that moved Cornell within 70-57 at 4:32.
The Big Red, who were averaging 80 points a game, shot 38 percent (10-for-26) from beyond the arc and 36.2 percent from the floor while the Orange shot 48.5 percent overall (33-for-68).
“We were fortunate,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said after the 759th win at his alma mater, which tied Ed Diddle (Western Kentucky) for fourth place all-time for wins in Division I at one school.
“They had some open shots and didn’t make them. It could have been a much closer game. Guys haven’t been home. I think they were thinking about it in the second half,” Boeheim said.
Syracuse (9-3) outscored Cornell 58-22 in the paint and its man-to-man defense held the Big Red’s long-range marksmen in check until the game was well in hand.
“A team like this is a 3-point shooting team. We knew down low they didn’t have too much of a presence,” said Onuaku, who was 8-for-10 from the floor. “We knew that was their weakness. We just tried to go on the post early.”
Paul Harris hit a pullup jumper in the lane just five seconds into the game. Onuaku followed with a lay-in and dunk, Donte Greene had a putback, and Flynn made a reverse layup to give Syracuse a 10-2 lead less than five minutes into the game.
“I’ve just been working hard with (associate head coach) Bernie Fine trying to establish myself in the low post,” said Onuaku, who is 30-for-33 from the floor over the past four games and is shooting 69.1 percent (67-of-97) on the season. “I know come Big East (season) we’re going to need a low-post presence.”
The Big Red opened the season with four straight games hitting at least 10 3-pointers and entered the game averaging 44.2 percent from long range, the fifth-best mark in the nation. But against the Syracuse defense, the Big Red missed their first three from beyond the arc and were just 5-for-15 when Onuaku converted a tip-in at the first-half buzzer to put the Orange up 49-30.
“We came out really tentative on defense in the first half,” said Ryan Wittman, who finished with a season-low six points on 2-for-14 shooting for the Big Red, nine below his team-leading average. “They did whatever they wanted.”
A year ago, Cornell led Syracuse with four minutes to play before the Orange finished with a 13-7 run and eked out a 67-62 victory. This one was over by halftime as the Big Red shot just 36.4 percent before the break.
“We were tentative on both sides of the ball to start the game,” Cornell coach Steve Donohue said. “We were afraid of making a mistake and we didn’t guard like we typically can.”
It was Syracuse’s 30th straight victory over Cornell (4-4), and the Orange won easily despite an off night by Greene, their leading scorer. The freshman forward, who was averaging 19.5 points per game, finished with 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting but had 10 rebounds.
Harris had 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Kristof Ongenaet, a junior college transfer from Belgium, had nine points and 10 rebounds, both season highs.
Louis Dale led the Big Red with 15 points, Collin Robinson had 14, and Adam Gore had 12.
After a dunk by Jeff Foote and 3-pointers by Dale and Gore moved the Big Red within 14-10 at 14:23, the Orange used its superior size and quickness to go on 26-10 spurt and take command.
Flynn scored eight points, one basket coming on a one-handed dunk off a lob by Greene, and Ongenaet finished the run with a layup off the glass at 5:57, giving Syracuse a commanding 40-20 lead.
Syracuse outrebounded Cornell 27-15 in the opening period, 11-6 on the offensive glass, and outscored the Big Red 34-10 in the paint. Syracuse finished with a 52-37 rebounding margin.
Even when the Orange failed to score for more than four minutes in the second half, the Big Red didn’t capitalize. After Alex Tyler hit a jumper at 16:59, Cornell missed 11 straight shots until Dale drained a 3 from left wing to snap a scoreless drought of more than 5.5 minutes.
A barrage of 3-pointers - two by Gore and one each by Wittman and Robinson - keyed a 12-2 run that moved Cornell within 70-57 at 4:32.
The Big Red, who were averaging 80 points a game, shot 38 percent (10-for-26) from beyond the arc and 36.2 percent from the floor while the Orange shot 48.5 percent overall (33-for-68).
“We were fortunate,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said after the 759th win at his alma mater, which tied Ed Diddle (Western Kentucky) for fourth place all-time for wins in Division I at one school.
“They had some open shots and didn’t make them. It could have been a much closer game. Guys haven’t been home. I think they were thinking about it in the second half,” Boeheim said.
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