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Balanced attack helps Syracuse edge Seton Hall

Feb 17, 2013 - 5:41 AM Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - Brandon Triche buried four 3-pointers en route to a career-high 29 points on Saturday, as sixth-ranked Syracuse held off Seton Hall, 76-65, at Prudential Center.

C.J. Fair followed with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Michael Carter- Williams donated 14 points and nine boards for the Orange (21-4, 9-3 Big East), who were coming off a 66-58 setback at Connecticut on Wednesday.

"I think Brandon was aggressive tonight the way we need him to be," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I just thought he really, offensively, kept us in it early and then he made plays at the end."

James Southerland added 11 points off the bench in the victory, which moved Syracuse into a tie for first place in the conference with Georgetown and Marquette.

Fuquan Edwin paced the Pirates (13-13, 2-11) with 21 points and Eugene Teague tallied 14 points and nine rebounds in the setback, Seton Hall's seventh in a row and 11th in its last 12 games.

"As much as I hate losing, I'm still optimistic with where we are going," Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said.

Edwin's 3-pointer just over four minutes in sparked a 15-6 Seton Hall surge that Haralds Karlis capped with a triple of his own to give the Pirates a 21-12 lead.

Boeheim quickly called a timeout, and whatever he told the team in the huddle worked wonders, as the Orange ripped off 12 straight to take a lead they would not relinquish.

Fair's three-point play capped the Orange outburst to give the visitors a 24-21 lead with just over five minutes left.

Seton Hall cut the margin to one, 29-28, on Karlis' trey with just under three minutes left in the half, but Syracuse closed the frame on a 7-2 spurt to take a 36-30 advantage into the break.

Syracuse led throughout the second half, but couldn't pull away until Carter- Williams knocked down two free throws on three consecutive possessions to give the Orange a 59-47 cushion with 9:39 to play.

The Pirates answered with a 7-1 surge to cut the margin to six before Syracuse used a 12-4 run, capped by another three-point play from Fair, to push the margin to 72-58 with 2:21 remaining.

Back-to-back triples from Seton Hall trimmed the deficit to eight with 1:00 remaining, but Triche's final 3-pointer with nine seconds left pushed the margin above double digits for good.

Game Notes

Syracuse holds a 47-17 lead in the all-time series ... Karlis finished with eight points for the Pirates ... Triche's previous career-high of 27 points came against Oakland last season ... Seton Hall shot 43.2 percent (19-for-44) from the field, while Syracuse finished 39.3 percent (24-for-61) from the floor.