NEW YORK -- Jonny Flynn scored 21 points and Syracuse beat St. John's 87-58 on Tuesday night, a much-needed win for the Orange and one 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 (20-8, 8-7 Big East) 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 in which they reached as high as No. 8.

Syracuse has three games remaining before the Big East tournament so it has a chance to eliminate any talk of being a team on the bubble as Selection Sunday approaches.

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).

Paris Horne had 17 points for the Red Storm (13-15, 4-11), who have lost six of seven.

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 dominated 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.

This was Syracuse's third straight win over the Red Storm and ninth in the last 10 meetings.