Syracuse, NY – Michael Carter-Williams filled the stat sheet with 11 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and three steals, as No. 4 Syracuse cruised to an 84-48 victory over Eastern Michigan on Monday.
DaJuan Coleman scored 14 points, Brandon Triche added 12 and Jerami Grant and Trevor Cooney each chipped in 11 for the Orange (6-0), who have won a school- record 26 consecutive games at the Carrier Dome.
Rob Murphy, who spent seven years as an assistant coach under Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, got a rude welcome from his mentor for the second straight year. The Eagles (5-2) committed 24 turnovers and shot just 30 percent from the field one year after losing to the Orange by the same exact score.
Derek Thompson and Glenn Bryant paced Eastern Michigan with 18 and 16 points, respectively.
Syracuse missed 14 of its first 17 attempts from the floor and found itself trailing, 12-8, midway through the opening half.
Then the Orange started making shots and implemented their full-court press, which helped force 17 turnovers in the first half.
"We haven't used the press that often but I think we can use the press effectively sometimes," Boeheim said. "They had a couple of young guys and they made a couple of mistakes early and they got a little shell-shocked with the pressure and we got some big turnovers."
Triche started a 27-5 run heading into the break with a tip-in and later hit Syracuse's only 3-pointer in 10 tries during the opening 20 minutes.
A 35-17 lead at the intermission moved to 42-20 on another Triche trey early in the second half. Baye Keita put in three buckets during an 8-0 run later on that ballooned the margin to 57-31, and the Orange rolled for the final 11 1/2 minutes.
Game Notes
Boeheim picked up career win No. 896 ... Syracuse, which has won its first six games for the fifth straight season, ran its winning streak in regular-season, non-conference games to 48 ... James Southerland, after making nine 3-pointers in a win at Arkansas last Friday, missed all five attempts from behind the arc and scored four points for the Orange ... Da'Shonte Riley, who transferred from Syracuse to EMU in June 2011, shot 1-of-8 from the field for just three points while adding six blocks and five boards ... Syracuse hosts Long Beach State on Thursday, while Eastern Michigan is next in action on Saturday against Purdue.
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