With one alley-oop and swat of a ball, Wes Johnson helped insert the proverbial dagger into Robert Morris Wednesday night. The Colonials only trailed by three before Johnson’s quick jabs ballooned the lead up to seven in the blink of an eye.

Over the next three minutes, Syracuse finished off Robert Morris.

Syracuse’s 13-0 run helped the Orange easily pull away from Robert Morris in SU’s 100-60 win last night at the Carrier Dome. While Robert Morris missed five consecutive shots, Syracuse hit 4-of-5 to break away from the Northeast Conference powerhouse.

‘I knew if we got on a run and maintained and stayed aggressive on defense and offense, we were going to open it up, and we did,’ Johnson said.

Syracuse had taken eight- and nine-point leads earlier in the game, but watched Robert Morris cut both of these leads to a bucket, including when the Colonials cut it to 24-21. Unlike the exhibition loss to Le Moyne on Nov. 3, though, Syracuse would not let an inferior team hang around this time.

Johnson’s alley-oop ignited the run, and his block on the other end led to a savvy finger-roll lay-up by freshman point guard Brandon Triche. Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine added a pair of free throws, Andy Rautins hit a jumper, and Johnson threw in a dunk and a jump shot to make it 37-21 with 5:13 left in the first half.

In that stretch, Robert Morris missed five shots and had zero offensive rebounds. SU never led by fewer than double-digits for the remainder of the game, and used the cushion to extend its lead to 55-32 at halftime.

‘It was really important,’ Jackson said. ‘Teams come in thinking they’re better than you, and you just want to let teams know that we are playing and we are ready, and we are going to be the team that we’re supposed to be.’

Defense continues to shine

As far as Rautins is concerned, Syracuse has found its identity. Two games in, the team already knows what it does best.

‘I feel like it’s much different than years past,’ Rautins said. ‘We’re really getting after it on defense. We’re going to play aggressively right from the get-go.’

Through two games – albeit against lesser opponents – it’s hard to argue. Syracuse forced Robert Morris into 28 turnovers and five different players had at least two steals. Rautins and Johnson each had four.

With coaches nearby, yelling at players to trap whenever possible, the Orange turned the court into a racetrack. Head coach Jim Boeheim said coaches are making a concerned effort to trap more this season.

With long players at every position, the Orange wants to harass teams into turnovers. Several times Wednesday, Robert Morris wasn’t able to pass the ball before the trap arrived.

‘We’ve been very reactive,’ Boeheim said. ‘We’re reacting to the ball more than we have in the past. I think we’re more active than we’ve been in a while. We are a little bigger, so the traps are more effective.’

THIS AND THAT

Syracuse doubled Robert Morris in points in the paint, 40-20. …Syracuse’s 28 forced turnovers lowered the Orange’s average on the season to 30. …Syracuse’s bench is averaging 29 points through its first two games. …Walk-on sophomore Nick Resavy scored his first points for the Orange with 27 seconds left, much to the delight of the crowd. …One game after shooting 0-for-6 from the floor, guard Mookie Jones was 2-for-5 from the field for six points. …Point guards Triche and Jardine have a 23-to-11 assist-to-turnover ration through two games.

mrehalt@syr.eduthdunne@syr.edu

Published on November 11, 2009 at 12:00 pm