SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Standout reserve Kris Joseph had a career-high 23 points, Arinze Onuaku added a season-high 20, and No. 3 Syracuse beat Providence 85-68 on Tuesday night.
Syracuse (22-1, 9-1 Big East) has won nine straight and is off to the best start in school history. The Orange were 21-1 in 1979-80, but they had never won 22 of their first 23 games to begin a season.
It was the second game of an eight-game span in which the Friars (12-10, 4-6) will face six ranked teams. They beat then-No. 19 Connecticut 81-66 last week to knock the Huskies out of the national rankings.
Syracuse broke open a three-point game with a 22-7 spurt to start the second half. Onuaku started it with a resounding two-hand dunk, Brandon Triche followed with a pullup 3-pointer after a Providence turnover, and Onuaku’s tip-in gave the Orange a 44-34 lead with 18:35 to play.
Jamine Peterson led Providence with 25 points, freshman Vincent Council had 16 and Marshon Brooks 14.
In the Orange’s previous three games, Joseph averaged 14.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists, going 15 of 29 from the field. Against the Friars, he was 9 of 11 and contributed four steals, combining with Onuaku to score 20 of Syracuse’s first 26 points.
Triche finished with 15 points and four assists without a turnover. Wes Johnson, the Orange’s leading scorer at 17 points a game, sat out most of the second half after a hard fall and finished with eight points.
In winning its previous two games, Syracuse made it difficult, falling behind Georgetown 14-0 and trailing DePaul by as many as 18 in the first half. That didn’t happen against Providence as Johnson drained a 3-pointer from the left wing 11 seconds into the game.
The Orange repeatedly pounded the ball inside to Onuaku, who hit six of eight shots in close, and went on an 11-0 run to take a double-digit lead. Consecutive layups off the glass by Onuaku gave Syracuse an 18-8 lead.
But the Friars began finding gaps in the Syracuse zone. Brooks converted consecutive backdoor layups and a 3 by Peterson had Providence within 21-17 midway through the first half.
Johnson’s 18-footer from the top of the key had the Orange ahead 32-23 with 5:42 to go. But Council sneaked in twice along the baseline and scored eight straight points for Providence in the final 3:11 as Syracuse committed four fouls and missed four shots and went into the locker room with a 37-34 lead.
Syracuse had seven blocks in the half, most of them underneath the basket and negating Providence’s 10-5 edge on the offensive glass. The Friars only had four second-chance points in the first half.
Syracuse received a big scare when Johnson crashed hard to the court when fouled by Brian McKenzie while trying to convert a lob midway through the first half. Johnson remained down for less than a minute but remained in the game.
With Johnson watching from the bench where Joseph starts every game, Joseph took over in the second half. His three-point play and follow on consecutive possessions boosted the lead to 64-41 with 11:24 left.
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