The Syracuse Orange have their first Carrier Dome win of the season, following the Battle on the Midway, with a 88-57 win over Wagner on Sunday. The 8th ranked Orange were led by 21 points from Brandon Triche, and 15 points a piece from James Southerland and Baye Keita off the bench. It was a career high for Keita, who was 6-of-6 shooting in the second half.
"Every game when I want to go in, I'm confident," said Keita after the game, "it doesn't matter what game, if I play one minute or two minutes. Every time I go in I'm pretty confident. I think that confidence is not a problem."
"I think he's getting better (at catching passes)," says Head Coach Jim Boeheim, "he's working harder in practice and he's showing that he wants to play harder and better."
The Orange improve to 2-0 on the season after opening their season with a 62-49 win over San Diego State on the flight deck of the former aircraft carrier USS Midway. Michael Carter-Williams followed up a 17 point performance in that game with a career-high 11 assists against Wagner, while Trevor Cooney had eight points and five steals.
"I think the team and I can get better every day," says Carter-Williams, "I think we can be as good as we want to be and be a contender for a national championship. So we're just getting better everyday in practice and just looking forward to it."
"I'm just playing basketball," said Triche of his when asked if he's being more assertive in games, "to me, that's all it is, just being a senior, being one of the leaders on the team and just trying to help the team as best as I can."
Syracuse has now won 23 straight home games and 34 in a row in the Carrier Dome against non-conference foes.
