College Basketball Roundup : Syracuse Too Tall for Boston College

Rony Seikaly and Derrick Coleman put on a slam dunk show Tuesday night as seventh-ranked Syracuse exploited its size and strength underneath the basket to defeat Boston College, 80-67, in a Big East Conference game at Boston.

“We ran into a certified buzz saw in the first half,” Boston College Coach Jim O’Brien said after Syracuse raced to a 40-18 halftime lead.

“Rony and Derrick did a good job getting open,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said after the Orangemen’s ninth consecutive victory. “They were just too strong for BC to handle down low.”

Seikaly and Coleman scored 19 points each, and Steve Thompson added 15. Coleman also had 15 rebounds and Seikaly 9.

“When they went to the zone, we did a good job moving around without the ball,” Coleman said. “Toward the end of the first half, we were running around like crazy on them, and that got them tired on defense. We knew we had the height advantage, so we used that on them, too.”

Despite the one-sided victory against a team with just one starter as tall as 6 feet 8 inches, Syracuse had a streak of scoring more than 100 points in four consecutive games ended.

Of its 17 baskets in the first half, Syracuse scored only one from as far out as 10 feet. Most were on dunks or layups, with guard Sherman Douglas throwing a couple of alley-oop passes to Seikaly.

The Eagles did manage to outscore the Orange, 26-6, in the final six minutes to tighten the score.

Syracuse is 11-2 overall and 1-0 in Big East; Boston College is 8-4, 0-2.

Seton Hall 71, Connecticut 58--James Major scored 25 points and ignited a decisive 10-1 second-half spurt with a three-point basket at East Rutherford, N.J., as the Pirates snapped the Huskies’ five-game winning streak.

Major’s three-point shot with 13:35 to play snapped a 41-41 tie, and teammate Mark Bryant then took over. The muscular forward, who scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half, hit three foul shots, drove the lane for a layup, and then shook the rim with a dunk after a Connecticut free throw.

That gave Seton Hall a 52-41 edge, and Connecticut never got closer than six points the rest of the way as it fell to 7-3 overall and 0-2 in Big East.

John Morton added 12 points for the Pirates (12-3, 1-0).

Oklahoma State 93, Tulsa 75--Richard Dumas scored 21 points, and Todd Christian and Derrick Davis added 20 apiece in leading the Cowboys to victory at Tulsa.

A bench-clearing fight with 13:15 remaining in the game resulted in four technical fouls being called against each team and the eviction of two players from each team.

The crowd of more than 8,000 tossed soft drink cups and debris onto the court in disappointment of Tulsa being penalized after Oklahoma State’s Sylvester Kincheon elbowed Ray Wingard for control of the ball.

The crowds’ display resulted in another technical against Tulsa.

Oklahoma State (6-5) took a 15-14 lead with 8:48 remaining in the first half and never trailed again. Tulsa (4-7) tied the game, 28-28, at halftime, but the Cowboys regained their lead about three minutes into the second half with a basket by John Starks.

Memphis State 76, Murray State 70--Senior guard Dwight Boyd scored six points in overtime to lead the Tigers to their win at Memphis

The two teams were tied at 66-66 at the end of regulation. Boyd, who led Memphis State with 21 points, hit two free throws with three seconds remaining to seal the Tigers’ victory. Memphis State is 8-2, Murray State is 5-6.

Alabama Birmingham 85, Mississippi Valley State 67--Alan Ogg, a 7-1 sophomore who has played very little this season, came off the bench to score 18 points and the Blazers pulled away in the second half at Birmingham, Ala.