Wes Johnson had to laugh. When asked if he was disappointed that Syracuse’s 32-0 run at the end of the first half against Maine had to come to a realistic end, the junior transfer flashed a grin and chuckled.

‘Yeah, a little bit,’ Johnson said. ‘It was fun being out there at the time, guys were getting up and down and especially when Andy (Rautins) threw me that alley-oop and then Scoop (Jardine) gave me that one pass. It was fun. I saw Kris (Joseph) got on a break and got a few dunks, so everybody was out there having fun.’

Syracuse posted that scoring run over a span of 10:44 to pull away in its 101-55 win over Maine Saturday night at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse ballooned its lead from 26-10 to 58-10 before a Rick Jackson goaltending call gave Maine its two points in that stretch. Maine turned the ball over eight times and missed 14 shots between buckets.

A lay-up by Maine’s Mike Allison cut Syracuse’s lead to 26-10 with 11:25 left in the first half, but that was the last shot that Maine would put through the hoop for the rest of the first half. Syracuse went on a quick 7-0 run to balloon the lead to 33-10 before a Maine timeout.

That 23-point advantage would hit 30 points, before becoming 50-10 on a jumper by Jackson with 2:48 left in the half. While Syracuse barraged Maine with a bevy of 3’s and dunks, Maine continuously missed its shots and turned the ball over.

Maine finally broke through, though, with 41 seconds left in the half. Maine’s Sean McNally took a shot from about five feet away that was banking in before Jackson swatted it away. The referees called goaltending, and the streak was over. The crowd booed that SU’s streak had to end with the half so close.

‘Our defense is really clicking as a unit,’ Jardine said. ‘I’ve never played on a team where we are so ready for the game knowing what they are going to do. The coaches do a great job getting us ready, knowing their plays, knowing the shooters and we just do a great job. We try to be active, and the more active we can be the more opportunities we have.’

DEFENSE STINGY – AGAIN

The difference in defense is noticeable to Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. There are many areas where he can point to his defense being stingier than last year, but following Syracuse’s 101-55 win over Maine, Boeheim said to look no further than Wes Johnson.

‘You forget that they get the ball inside a couple of times and Wesley comes over and blocks it; any other year that’s two points,’ Boeheim said. ‘We’re able to do some of those things that we haven’t been able to do for a while and we’re blocking a lot of shots and those lead to fast breaks and you end up scoring instead of the other team scoring.’

Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense put on a clinic against the Black Bears, holding Maine to 26.5 percent shooting and just 12 points in the first half. Syracuse has not allowed any opponent in eight games to score over 75 points, and has kept its last three opponents at 60 points or fewer.

‘I think we’re bigger,’ Boeheim said. ‘I think physically we’re bigger, longer at the guard spots. We’re just bigger than we have been in a long time.’

Maine only managed to score 12 points in the first half on 4-of-31 shooting. While it shot 37.8 percent in the second half, that came as a result of plenty of second-string minutes and allowing the defense to feel out its man-to-man skills. When the zone defense was employed, though, Maine stood no chance. Forced to shoot outside jumpers, Maine simply did not have the shooters to make this a game.

‘I think the main thing we think about going into the game is defense and rebounding, and that’s the main thing we focus on,’ Johnson said. ‘We know the offense is going to be there, but really just talking about defense a lot. I think everybody has bought into it.’

THIS AND THAT

Syracuse outscored Maine in the paint, 52 to 14. …Syracuse led in fast-break points, 29 to 4. …the Orange bench had 48 points. …Syracuse had six players in double digits, compared to just one for Maine. …Maine outscored Syracuse in the second half, 43 to 41. …Syracuse’s turnover ratio was only plus-1, with the Orange forcing 18 and giving up 17. …Syracuse had a 45-to-33 rebounding advantage…

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on December 6, 2009 at 12:00 pm