SYRACUSE (AP) -- Kutztown coach Bernie Driscoll slumped against a wall in the Carrier Dome, glanced down at the box score that had his Golden Bears on the losing end of a lopsided score against No. 10 Syracuse, and just shook his head.
"Man, they're big," Driscoll said. "Those four freshmen, those kids play like they've been around for a long time. They're going to be great."
Kris Joseph and freshman C.J. Fair both scored 14 points, and the Orange beat Division II Kutztown 96-60 in an exhibition game Tuesday night.
Syracuse's freshmen foursome of Fair, 7-foot center Fab Melo, Dion Waiters and 6-10 center Baye Moussa Keita played 74 minutes and combined for 37 points.
"Everybody got an opportunity to get their feet wet," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "It's a good first outing for us. I just wanted everybody to get playing time. I tried to give everybody a fairly equal amount of time."
Kutztown finished 23-8 last season and won a school-record 28 games the previous year, but the smaller Golden Bears struggled to find many open looks and never found a rhythm. Steve Coffey had 15 points and Julius Gray 12 to lead Kutztown, which committed 24 turnovers.
It was a dominating performance by the Orange. Syracuse outscored Kutztown 62-20 in the paint, outrebounded the Golden Bears 50-34 and had 30 second-chance points, scored 27 off the fast break, and received 46 points from its bench.
"These are huge games for us," Boeheim said. "Kutztown moves the ball very well and is very smart. Overall, we're bigger and we're stronger. If we shot the ball well, we really would have had a good night. We played against a team that knows what it's doing."
One of Boeheim's concerns is the perimeter game with the loss of stars Wes Johnson and Andy Rautins, who both shot over 40 percent from beyond the arc last season on a team that won 30 games.
On this night the Orange were woeful, making just 5 of 29 (17.2 percent) from beyond the arc, but they can score other ways.
Melo, who finished with nine points, four rebounds, four blocks and two assists in 23 minutes, wowed the crowd with a steal and fastbreak dunk in the first half as he settled into his new role as the starting center.
"I was kind of nervous, but I think I had a pretty good start," Melo said. "When I had my first dunk, I knew I was in the right place."
Fair showed great awareness, slamming home a miss by Melo midway through the first half. He scored Syracuse's first three baskets of the second half, the final one a spinning drive and dunk, and finished with six rebounds to match Keita for high among the frosh.
"I just tried to play my game, fit in, and have fun," said Fair, who played 18 minutes. "I have a good nose for the ball."
Waiters finished with six points and five assists, also in 18 minutes.
"It felt good to be out there, but I was so nervous I couldn't hit a jump shot," said Waiters, younger cousin of teammate Scoop Jardine. "After waiting all this time, this felt like a dream come true. I'll cherish this."
Syracuse never trailed and used its superior athleticism to take control in the first half as Jardine and Rick Jackson each scored eight points and Joseph added seven, including a 3 just before the first-half buzzer that gave the Orange a 47-32 lead.
The game was tied twice in the first five minutes, the second time after Eric Brennan drained a long jumper to pull Kutztown even at 10-all.
Jardine's left-handed layup started an 11-2 Syracuse run as the Orange challenged virtually every Kutztown shot, and the Golden Bears never recovered.
Boeheim started Jackson, Jardine, Brandon Triche, Joseph and Melo. He also used a rotation of James Southerland, Mookie Jones, Melo, Fair, and Waiters.
Keita, Southerland, Fair, Waiters and Jones started the second half and stayed in for just over 8 minutes. They left together in favor of the starting five with the Orange up 73-42.
Syracuse plays one more exhibition, next Tuesday against Division II Le Moyne, which upset the Orange a year ago in a preseason game. Syracuse opens the season at home against Northern Iowa on Nov. 12.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
