SYRACUSE, N.Y. – James Southerland had a career-high 18 points off the bench, Rick Jackson added 18 points and nine rebounds, and No. 5 Syracuse beat Morgan State 97-55 on Monday night.
Morgan State (4-5), the two-time defending champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, was no match for the Orange (12-0), one of eight unbeatens remaining in Division I.
Syracuse used its defense, large doses of unselfishness and finesse, and some pinpoint accuracy from long range to open a lead that ballooned to as many as 19 points in the first half.
Syracuse, averaging 31 percent for the season from beyond the arc, finished 12 of 25 on 3s as Southerland hit 4 of 6.
The Orange had 16 assists on 19 baskets, five blocks, five steals, outrebounded the Bears 21-11, and had 11 second-chance points to zero for Morgan State in building a 44-29 halftime lead. The Orange also hit 5 of 9 from beyond the arc in the opening period, two each by Southerland and Mookie Jones, who was playing in only his seventh game of the season.
Despite a sore right calf muscle, freshman center Fab Melo had his most effective game of the season for the Orange, scoring a season-high nine points and blocking four shots.
Early blocks by Melo and Jackson led to a pair of layups in transition by Brandon Triche, and a pair of pretty passes in the lane by Melo set up easy layups for Jackson on consecutive possessions in the opening minutes.
Black kept the Bears close, hitting a pair of 3s from the top of the key and converting a runner in the lane in the first 9:05 of play.
After a layup by DeWayne Jackson moved Morgan State within 22-16 at 11:10, Syracuse went on a 12-0 run.
Southerland started it with a 3 from the left corner off a steal by Jackson, and Jackson followed with a dunk off a pretty pass from Dion Waiters.
Triche then fed freshman center Baye Moussa Keita for a layup and Jackson for a dunk, and Waiters completed the spurt with a no-look, over-the-shoulder pass to Jackson for another basket that boosted the lead to 34-16 with 8:14 left.
Syracuse was coming off an 83-77 win over Iona on Saturday night, a game in which the Orange nearly squandered a 15-point lead in the closing minutes. That wasn't about to happen again, and even when coach Jim Boeheim emptied his bench in the closing minutes the onslaught continued by the Orange walkons.
Consecutive 3s by Griffin Hoffmann and Matt Tomaszewski and a fast-break layup by Brandon Reese in the final minutes finished the beat-down.
Orange freshmen C.J. Fair rolled his left ankle against Iona and did not play.
(This version CORRECTS No. 5 Syracuse 97, Morgan St. 55. Corrects Syracuse's 3-point shooting in 4th paragraph)
