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Fair leads top-ranked Syracuse past Clemson

Feb 10, 2014 - 4:32 AM Syracuse, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - C.J. Fair totaled 19 points and seven rebounds and No. 1 Syracuse stayed unbeaten with a 57-44 victory over Clemson on Sunday.

Jerami Grant and Trevor Cooney added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Syracuse (23-0, 10-0 ACC), which will put its perfect record on the line when it travels to visit No. 25 Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

K.J. McDaniels deposited 19 points with 10 boards to lead Clemson (15-7, 6-4), which had taken down Syracuse in both of the previous meetings between the two programs. McDaniels hit 6-of-13 from the floor while the rest of the Tigers shot an abysmal 8-of-28.

Syracuse turned the ball over just five times while forcing 13 Clemson miscues. The Orange turned those turnovers into 16 points, while the Tigers managed just four points off turnover.

Clemson battled early despite playing from behind for most of the first half. McDaniels scored four straight points, including a pair of free throws at 4:22, to knot the score at 22-all.

The Tigers went scoreless for the remainder of the half, however, and Syracuse took advantage. Cooney's triple broke the tie, Grant scored twice and Fair beat the buzzer with a layup for a 31-22 Orange advantage at the break. Clemson shot 27.3 percent over the first 20 minutes.

Josh Smith's jumper at 10:46 of the second half cut Clemson's deficit to 42-37, but the next four possessions ended in a pair of missed field goals and two turnovers.

Syracuse built a 48-37 margin after Tyler Ennis' layup at 6:56. Cooney then followed another Ennis layup with a trey with two minutes remaining, and the Orange had their largest lead at 57-42.

"He's played great. I think this was his most efficient game of the year, some people may not think it's his best game, but it was his most efficient," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I thought he was really good, he had a couple big shots, a couple jumpers, he hit the three, and down the stretch he got into the lane."

Game Notes

Syracuse outscored Clemson 32-14 in the paint ... Clemson had its two game winning streak snapped ... Clemson's bench outscored Syracuse, 12-3 ... Clemson is set to visit Notre Dame on Tuesday.