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No. 9 Syracuse crushes St. John's

Feb 11, 2013 - 12:25 AM Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) - C.J. Fair and Michael Carter-Williams scored 17 points apiece to help the ninth-ranked Syracuse Orange post a 77-58 victory over a St. John's club that was without its head coach.

Fair added nine rebounds, while Carter-Williams compiled eight assists and a career-high six steals.

James Southerland returned from a six-game absence due to an eligibility issue to score 13 points for the Orange (20-3, 8-2 Big East), who extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 37 games.

"You know he's going to be nervous a little bit," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said about Southerland. "He was a little off in the first half but he got the same shots in the second half and he's going to make those shots if he gets them."

Brandon Triche had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds in Syracuse's eighth win in a row over the Red Storm. The Orange have also beaten St. John's eight straight times at the Carrier Dome.

JaKarr Sampson paced the Red Storm (15-9, 7-5) with a game-high 21 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

St. John's head coach Steve Lavin missed the game due to the passing of his father. Albert "Cap" Lavin. Assistant Rico Hines took over the coaching duties with Lavin not present for Sunday's contest.

"We knew we were playing for coach Lavin," St. John's guard D'Angelo Harrison said. "We play for him every game, but especially this one. This one hurts because we didn't win for him, but we'll see him tomorrow. We'll pray for him and do everything we can to help."

The Orange, who never trailed, went up 23-10 on back-to-back Baye Moussa Keita baskets. After a bit of jostling, Fair hit a 3-pointer to make it 32-17 with 5:55 remaining in the first half.

Syracuse led by 13 points at the break, but St. John's fought back in the second half, with a Sampson jumper closing the gap to 48-43 with 11:45 to play.

Southerland, though, highlighted a 10-2 surge with a pair of 3-pointers and a no-look feed to Triche for a dunk.

The Red Storm trimmed their deficit to eight moments later, but a Keita slam pushed Syracuse's lead to 66-52 with 4:19 left.

Game Notes

The Orange reached 20 wins for the 16th consecutive year. In head coach Jim Boeheim's 36-year tenure at Syracuse, he has led the Orange to 20-win seasons 34 times ... Syracuse shot 53.7 percent and connected on 10-of-22 3-pointers ... Harrison finished with 13 points for St. John's ... The Red Storm fell to 2-3 against ranked opponents this season.