Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse found the range from 3-point range early and often in an 87-52 win over Rider at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.
Syracuse had struggled from beyond the 3-point arc in early wins over Bryant and Niagara, but the Orange was hot from the opening tap against Rider.
Syracuse opened up a 26-6 lead to start the game and maintained control the rest of the way.
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The Orange hit eight of its first 11 shots from outside the 3-point arc.
For the game, the Orange connected on 15 out of 30 attempts from 3-point range against Rider, including a 12-for-18 performance in the first half. Syracuse’s 15 made threes tied the school record, which had been set six times, most recently against Notre Dame last season.
The early 3-point shooting staked the Orange to a 49-29 halftime lead.
Syracuse (3-0) is scheduled to play at No. 24 Rutgers on Tuesday as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
In just his third game at Syracuse after transferring from Illinois, Alan Griffin led the Orange with 23 points, falling just one point shy of his career-high of 24, which he set last year against Northwestern.
Griffin, a 6-5 forward, went 8-for-11 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He also recorded four rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Syracuse guard Joe Girard snapped out of his brief shooting slump. Girard had gone 3-for-15 on 3-pointers in Syracuse’s first two games, but he made four out of seven attempts in the first half and wound up 6-for-12 for the game. Girard finished with 21 points.
Syracuse was without two starters for the second straight game. Bourama Sidibe, SU’s senior center, is out for at least four weeks after tearing the meniscus in his left knee during the Orange’s season-opener against Bryant.
Buddy Boeheim, the junior guard, was not at Saturday’s game as he continued to maintain quarantine in accordance with contact tracing protocol. An unidentified walk-on tested positive last weekend and Boeheim was determined to have been in close contact.
Rider was playing its first game of the season after having to cancel three games due to a positive Covid test within its basketball program.
Syracuse freshman Kadary Richmond started for the second straight game. He finished with seven points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Syracuse’s defense held the Broncs to 17-for-57 (30 percent) field goal shooting. Rider managed to hit just seven of its 27 attempts (26 percent) from 3-point range.
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