On a day when most Syracuse Orange fans are down about the departure of Doug Marrone from the football program, the basketball team provided a silver lining.
Jim Boeheim's 7th ranked Orange took out South Florida 55-44 at the Sun Dome in Tampa today, improving to 14-1 on the year, 2-0 in Big East play.
South Florida started quickly, taking a 17-7 lead in the first half. Syracuse though, would rally and take a 24-23 lead in no time, and never relinquished the lead after that.
Brandon Triche led the way with 20 points at 4 assists while James Southerland provided a spirited effort off the bench with 17 points and 8 rebounds including a three pointer that gave SU an 8 point lead with three minutes to play and essentially was the dagger.
C.J. Fair posted a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds in the winning effort.
Next up for the Orange is another road date, Wednesday night at Providence. That game should be much different than the one we saw on Sunday because Providence features a high-powered offense.
The Orange isn't back at the Carrier Dome until Saturday when it hosts Villanova at noon.
