Syracuse, NY – Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim picked up his 903rd career victory on Wednesday to move past Bob Knight for sole possession of second place on the all-time Division I wins list.
Brandon Triche led the way on the historic night at the Carrier Dome, making five 3-pointers en route to 25 points to help the seventh-ranked Orange beat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 78-53, in the Big East opener for both programs.
"Well, I'm proud to be able to do that. I'm happy to get it done," Boeheim said. "I didn't want to think about it anymore. I was hoping we could do it right away, as quickly as possible. I was hoping it was going to be a little quicker. But I'm glad we got it done fairly quickly."
Michael Carter-Williams added a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists for Syracuse (13-1, 1-0 Big East), which has won three in a row since a loss to Temple on Dec. 22. C.J. Fair tallied 15 points.
Syracuse extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 33 games.
Eli Carter made five 3-pointers en route to 19 points for the Scarlet Knights (9-3, 0-1), who had a five-game winning streak snapped.
Rutgers coach Mike Rice returned on Wednesday following a three-game suspension.
The Scarlet Knights kept it close early and actually held a 20-18 lead with over eight minutes left in the first half.
However, Syracuse took full control with a 21-0 run to end the frame. James Southerland and Fair tallied seven and six points, respectively, during the surge. Southerland capped the burst with a layup to make it a 39-20 contest at the break.
"Lack of response (is what went wrong during the run). We are really good when we are scoring and things are going our way," Rice said. "It's just that this team's response and their toughness (is lacking). We lack the energy, we lack the toughness. There are going to be some bad things that happen, whether it is missed shots or turnovers -- which you can't have against Syracuse, but we had."
The Orange cruised to victory in the second half after Carter-Williams started the period with a 3-pointer.
Game Notes
Syracuse holds a 39-9 advantage in the all-time series with Rutgers. The Orange have won 13 straight meetings and 23 of the 24 all-time meetings at home ... Rutgers fell to 2-16 all-time in Big East openers ... Syracuse shot 45.9 percent from the floor and went 9-of-22 from beyond the arc.
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