Orange Wake Up In Time To Slip Past DePaul

#4 Syracuse (21-1, 8-1) trailed DePaul (8-13, 1-8) by as many as 18 points and for more than 36 minutes, before using a late-game comeback to win, 59-57, on Saturday afternoon at Allstate Arena. The win was the eighth straight for the Orange. The win marked the second time the Orange has opened the season at 21-1 in head coach Jim Boeheim’s 34-year tenure. Syracuse was also 21-1 in 1979-80. Junior Wes Johnson contributed a team-best 16 points with a game-high 13 rebounds. Johnson also dished out a career-best seven assists. Sophomore Kris Joseph added 15 points and seven rebounds while posting three steals. DePaul opened the game on a 14-6 run, distancing Syracuse in the first four minutes of play. The Blue Demons built its advantage to 13 on a Will Walker trifecta, 21-8, and took its largest lead of the game, 33-15, with 8:53 left in the first half. It marked Syracuses largest deficit of the season and the second straight game the Orange trailed by double-digits in the first half. The Orange made a comeback, closing out the first half on a 16-0 run while holding the hosts scoreless for more than eight minutes in the stretch. Rick Jackson propelled the run with four points, while Andy Rautins, Brandon Triche and Johnson each had a three-pointer. The strong Syracuse stretch cut the DePaul lead to, 35-31, at the break. Syracuse gained ground out of intermission, using an 8-3 run to make it a one-point game, 40-39, with 15:41 left in regulation. DePaul responded and pushed the advantage back up to seven, 48-41, with 12:48 remaining. The teams battled back-and-forth, trading baskets to a 52-43 score before the Orange used three-straight three-pointers by Joseph, Rautins and Scoop Jardine to make it a one-possession game, 54-52, with 4:29 remaining. Syracuse built its three-straight trifectas into a 13-2 run and took its first lead of the contest, 56-54, on a Jardine layup with 3:37 left on the clock. Rautins found Joseph for the easy layup and the sophomore netted a free throw on the ensuing possession to make it, 59-54 with 1:37 remaining. Walker brought the Blue Demons back, connecting from behind the arc with 1:08 on the clock. After a Rautins miss, Walker had a three-point chance with five seconds left, but bricked the shot off the back iron. DePaul rebounded the ball, but could not get a shot off before the clock esxpired. Jackson rounded out the double-digit scorers for Syracuse, tallying 10 points while collecting eight rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Rautins and senior Arinze Onuaku each had six points, with Rautins chipping in six boards and a pair of assists. Walker led all scorers with 21 points while Mac Koshwal and Mike Stovall each contributed nine points. The Orange look to go 22-1 for the first time in Boeheims tenure when it returns home to host Providence on Tuesday, February 2 at 7:00 p.m.