CLEVELAND — This one didn’t need a trip to the line. Rick Jackson was finally wide open down low. After a patient offensive possession during which SU flowed the ball around Indiana State’s zone, Dion Waiters drove in from the right.

Mid-air, he found Jackson underneath the hoop. And Jackson did the rest.

‘That’s just moving without the ball,’ Jackson said. ‘I have that chemistry with my point guards. They try to find me in there — in the seams, in the gaps — and they did a great job.’

Paced by Jackson’s season-high 23 points and seven rebounds, the No. 3 seed Syracuse (27-7) rolled to a comfortable 77-60 win over 14th-seeded Indiana State (20-14) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday inside the Quicken Loans Arena. In front of 20,164 fans, Jackson controlled the SU offense inside. His dominance down low early got SU out to a lead it would never relinquish. And he rekindled that dominance in the second half to ensure an Orange win.

Syracuse will move on to face No. 11 Marquette in the third round, as the Golden Eagles beat Xavier 66-55 earlier in the night. The game is a rematch of the teams’ Jan. 29 matchup inside Milwaukee’s Bradley Center. The Golden Eagles won that game, 76-70.

To get there, though, SU relied on its rock. In the first half, the refrain from the public address announcer grew increasingly familiar. ‘Bucket by Rick Jackson,’ he repeated.

‘We wanted to establish it early and get the ball into him,’ SU point guard Scoop Jardine said. ‘Coach (Jim Boeheim) said they didn’t have anybody that could guard him, so we wanted to emphasize just getting the ball in to him.

‘And he delivered for us.’

He delivered early and often, contributing 12 points in the first half. Immediately, he was fouled down low by Indiana State’s Dwayne Lathan and made both of his free throws.

Jackson accounted for eight of the Orange’s first 14 points. And for the rest of those 14, he was the draw that allowed Syracuse to open up from beyond the arc. When Jardine started to drive, the Sycamores’ defenders collapsed on Jackson, expecting the same routine. That left Kris Joseph wide open from the left wing, and he hit the 3-pointer to put his team up 7-4.

‘Rick,’ Joseph said, ‘continues to surprise me.’

C.J. Fair got involved when he entered the game with 13 minutes left in the half. With short jumpers and free throws, he played a large role in SU’s first-half offense, scoring nine points.

Momentum turned when that inside game suddenly stopped working — partly because the Orange went away from what was its bread and butter through the first 10 minutes. Jackson only attempted two shots in the last 11:44 of the half.

And in the early part of the second half, that continued. Jackson was frustrated down low. Guarded by Indiana State’s Myles Walker on the left block, Jackson couldn’t get off a clean shot and air-balled a hook shot. Even when he got the ball up top, his passes were tipped by an active Sycamores defense.

‘Pushing me, grabbing me, fouling me,’ Jackson said of what Indiana State’s defense did to frustrate him. ‘I don’t think they thought I was going to make so many foul shots. … I did a great job of just taking my time and making foul shots.’

Jackson reignited SU through the free-throw line early in the second half, after the Orange saw its lead at one point shrink to 42-36. Fouled hard repeatedly after double and triple teams, Jackson — a 50.8 percent free-throw shooter on the season — made nine of his 11 attempts. Four straight put Syracuse back up 49-38 with 12:55 to play in the game.

And on one of SU’s next possessions came the feeling of complete dominance. It started with a steal from Jardine, who said he was able to read Indiana State’s fluid ball movement easier in the second half.

Syracuse was patient for 15 seconds. Then Waiters found the opening — Jackson alone for one of the few times in the contest. Up 13, the Orange never looked back.

‘They have to step up once you penetrate the gaps,’ Waiters said. ‘And Rick got wide open. I just dished it to him for the big-time dunk.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on March 18, 2011 at 12:00 pm