Syracuse will try to follow its season-opening victory with another home win when Central Connecticut State visits the JMA Wireless Dome at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The Orange enter 1-0 after defeating New Haven 74-58 in Gerry McNamara’s debut as head coach. Central Connecticut State is 0-1 and will play at Syracuse for the first time since 2012, according to Syracuse’s game preview.
Orange build on a fast start
McNamara’s postgame news conference above follows Monday’s win over New Haven, when Syracuse scored the first 18 points and held the Chargers without a basket on their first 12 attempts.
Gavin Doty opened that run with a 3-pointer, and consecutive 3s by Mark Morano helped Syracuse take a 12-0 lead about five minutes into the game.
The Orange finished the first half with seven straight points, including a Garwey Dual 3-pointer, for a 39-17 halftime advantage. Their lead reached 28 in the second half and never fell below 15 after the opening surge.
Sophomore Kiyan Anthony led Syracuse with 17 points off the bench. Doty added 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Sadiq White Jr. had 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Syracuse recorded 15 assists and only five turnovers. Ryan Moesch had five assists, and Anthony and Doty each contributed three.
The opener drew 23,283 fans, Syracuse’s largest opening-night home crowd since 23,844 attended the 2016-17 game against Colgate. The Orange have won seven consecutive season openers.
Central Connecticut State seeks its first win
Patrick Sellers’ Blue Devils opened Monday with a 68-56 loss at Temple. Ashton Reynolds scored 18 points as a reserve.
Central Connecticut State finished last season 18-12 overall and 12-6 in the Northeast Conference. Returning junior guard James Jones averaged 4.2 points and 5.6 rebounds last season.
Thursday’s game will stream on ACCNX. Fans can also find live audio, live statistics and tickets through Syracuse.
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