DePaul falls again, 78-57 to Syracuse

SYRAC– USE—Brandon Triche and James Southerland combined for 37 points in the final home game of their careers, and No. 17 Syracuse beat DePaul 78-57 on Wednesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.Syracuse (23-7, 11-6 Big East) broke a rare two-game losing streak in the Carrier Dome. No. 5 Georgetown started it 11 days ago with a 57-46 win that stopped the Orange’s 38-game winning streak, the longest in the nation at the time.Cleveland Melvin had 15 points and eight rebounds for DePaul (11-19, 2-15), which lost its fifth straight and moved into a tie for last in the conference with South Florida.The Orange’s three-game slide came in a span of a week against Georgetown, No. 8 Louisville and No. 15 Marquette. The setbacks sent Syracuse plummeting out of the top 10 and out of contention for its second straight Big East regular season title. The Orange’s only remaining regular season game is at Georgetown on Saturday.It was Senior Night for Triche and Southerland, who struggled, going 5 of 19 from the field and 1 of 9 on 3-pointers. but he made all 11 of his free throws for 22 points in his first start of the season and just the third of his career.Triche finished with 15 points and five rebounds, and C.J. Fair had 16 points, his 20th game in double figures this season. Michael Carter-Williams had 10 points, five assists and four steals.Brandon Young had 12 points for the Blue Demons, Moses Morgan added nine, and Jamee Crockett eight on 2-of-10 shooting.Syracuse outscored DePaul 40-26 in the paint, 17-6 off turnovers, and went 24 of 31 on free throws.The Orange took control with a 20-3 first-half spurt, led 35-26 at halftime, and never let the Blue Demons get closer than six points in the second half.Fair converted a lob from Carter-Williams and Triche fed Southerland and Rakeem Christmas for two more dunks – all in a span of less than a minute – to boost the lead to 59-42 with 6:56 to play.DePaul entered the game shooting 30.1 percent from 3-point range and Syracuse was tied with Providence for the stingiest defense against the long-range game in the Big East, allowing 28.9 percent.That didn’t deter the Blue Demons, who gained an early lead by victimizing the Orange’s perimeter defense three times in a span of just over 2 minutes. Crockett started the long-range surge with a 3 and finished it with another after Morgan had hit from behind the arc. Young’s layup gave DePaul a 21-15 lead at 12:26 and then the Orange stormed back with their big run that included three three-point plays.Fair’s two-handed slam dunk tied it at 24-all, and Southerland and Triche followed with three-point plays. Fair’s 3 from the left corner ended the run and gave Syracuse an 11-point lead.The Blue Demons missed seven shots, committed four turnovers that included a shot-clock violation, committed two fouls and had two shots blocked during the Syracuse rally as the Orange built their nine-point halftime lead.Syracuse senior walk-ons Griffin Hoffmann and Matt Lyde-Cajuste were also honored in a pregame ceremony.

NOTES—DePaul is now 7-81 in Big East Regular Season play during the past five years.