Ten seconds after Kenny Boynton knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing over Dion Waiters to tie the game about halfway through the second half, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim burned a timeout.

Erving Walker had also just hit a 3 on Florida’s previous possession to silence the crowd after Syracuse took a six-point lead, and SU needed to tighten up its perimeter defense. On the sideline, Boeheim grabbed Waiters’ arm and bent down to talk into the Orange guard’s ear.

‘We extended our zone and kind of gave their bigs two-pointers because we knew if they wasn’t making 3s, they wouldn’t be able to beat us,’ SU guard Scoop Jardine said.

The No. 10 Gators relied on the long-range shooting of Boynton and Walker to keep them in the game against No. 4 Syracuse (8-0) in the second half. The Florida guards combined to shoot 6-of-10 from beyond the arc after the break and accounted for all nine of UF’s 3-pointers in the game. SU picked it up on defense and held the Gators (5-2) without a 3 for more than nine minutes to close out the game, helping the Orange earn a 72-68 win in the Carrier Dome on Friday night.

But before Syracuse locked down on defense, the Florida guards’ shooting effort had the Gators in position to knock off the Orange in the Dome.

SU quickly went up 44-41 on its first possession coming out of that timeout when C.J. Fair grabbed an offensive rebound and finished, making a free throw to complete a three-point play.

But Boynton came down and hit another 3 from a few feet beyond the arc to tie the game again, holding his follow through and three fingers out as he retreated back on defense. Two possessions later, his third 3 in a little more than two minutes gave Florida a 49-46 lead and prompted teammate Cody Larson to jump up and down in excitement on the bench.

Meanwhile, the Orange couldn’t find its stroke, shooting just 38 percent from the field in the second half. But it came up with some big steals and clamped down after Boynton’s 3 gave Florida the lead with 9:19 to go.

Still, Boeheim expressed disappointment with the team’s performance on the defensive end in the final 20 minutes.

‘In the second half, they shot 50 percent from the 3 and 53 percent from the field, and we shot 38 percent from the field and 28 percent from the 3,’ Boeheim said. ‘I look at that and I say, ‘Who won this game?’ Because it doesn’t look like we would win this game with those numbers.’

Melo leads Syracuse in first half, provides presence on defense

Fab Melo’s two-handed slam to get Syracuse on the board 1:09 into the game elicited the first excited reaction from the Carrier Dome crowd of 24,459 on Friday.

The sophomore center leaked out on the break down the right sideline after Kris Joseph controlled a long rebound and brought the ball up the floor. Joseph hit Scoop Jardine on the right wing, who fed a wide-open Melo on the right block with a no-look pass for the easy dunk.

‘I felt great, they were passing me the ball,’ Melo said. ‘I got in good position, so every time I got the ball I tried to finish strong.’

Melo led the Orange in the first half, scoring seven of the team’s first 10 points to help SU keep pace with the Gators early. His early production on offense and defensive effort proved crucial in the Orange’s big 72-68 win over Florida.

After Melo’s first dunk, he added a free throw and swished a jumper from the right corner as SU trailed Florida 10-8.

On the Orange’s next possession, Jardine controlled the ball on the left wing and went up for a shot, but he fired a line-drive pass in midair to Melo on the block. The SU center, who finished with nine points, threw down another two-handed jam, this time over a futile block attempt by the Florida forward Larson.

Melo also challenged Florida’s shot attempts in the lane on defense. His lone block early in the second half was impressive as he stuffed a dunk attempt by UF center Patric Young from behind.

The Orange center stood in the lane relishing his block for a second before running up the court with a smile on his face to play offense.

Said Melo: ‘I told the guards, ‘Don’t worry about inside. If they get the ball inside, I will protect the basket.”

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on December 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu