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Syracuse crushes Seton Hall in Big East opener

Dec 29, 2011 - 5:37 AM Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) - Dion Waiters netted a game-high 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor, leading the top-ranked Syracuse Orange to a 75-49 drubbing of Seton Hall in the opener of Big East conference play for both teams.

Fab Melo dropped 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds to go with 10 blocks, while Brandon Triche finished with 11 points for the Orange, who remain perfect on the season at 14-0.

"It feels great, it feels great," Melo said of his first career double-double. "I've been working a lot and now it is paying off."

Jordan Theodore paced the Pirates (11-2, 0-1 Big East) with 14 points, while Patrik Auda ended with six points and eight boards. Brandon Mobley scored seven points and Herb Pope donated four points to go with nine rebounds.

Syracuse opened the game on an 8-1 run, before it was snapped on a layup by Theodore to make it 8-3 just over five minutes into the game.

A pair of free throws by Baye Keita put the Orange up 10, 16-6, and a jumper by Waiters with less than 8 1/2 minutes to go in the first half gave Syracuse a 20-9 bulge.

"I thought our defense was as good as it has been all year, making defensive plays," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. "It was an incredible defensive effort. I think offensively we have a lot of work to do and we have a lot of things that we can get better on."

A slam by Pope pulled Seton Hall within 22-14, but Syracuse then went on a 12-1 run over the remaining six-plus minutes of the first half to lead 34-15 at the break.

In the second half, it was all Syracuse, as the Orange used a 13-7 burst to push their already comfortable lead to 47-22 with less than five minutes gone in the second half.

A slam by James Southerland with just over five minutes to play gave the Orange their largest lead of the game at 33, 68-35. They shot 56.7 percent from the floor in the second half and cruised to the easy win.

Game Notes

Syracuse owns a commanding 46-16 lead in the all-time series with Seton Hall, and the Orange have won eight of the last 11 meetings, and 23 of the 28 matchups at the Carrier Dome....Syracuse dominated inside, outscoring Seton Hall 46-22 in the paint...The Orange turned 23 Seton Hall turnovers into 26 points...Syracuse got 40 points from its bench to only 16 bench points for the Pirates.