COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Syracuse Does What It Must but No More

The outcome was never in doubt, but No. 4 Syracuse couldn’t turn its opening-round game of the Carrier Classic into a rout at Syracuse, N.Y.

Syracuse sputtered to an 18-point first-half lead but failed to completely shake Division II Alaska-Anchorage on the way to a 103-85 victory.

“It might have seemed like we were toying with them, but we don’t toy with anybody. They played a good game,” said sophomore Conrad McRae, who joined Billy Owens as Syracuse’s top scorers with 16 points apiece.

“If we had kept our starting five in, it would have made a big difference,” said Owens, who played the longest of any starter, 31 minutes.

“The second team got to play long minutes. You have to get other players in a game like this, because they’re not going to play in the close ones.”

Scott McCorkle, a freshman from Capistrano Valley, was one of the beneficiaries of the playing time, scoring 11 points. Syracuse finished with five players in double figures, including McRae, a sophomore whose previous best outing was 12 points against North Carolina State. Freshman guard Adrian Autry had 15 on four-for-eight three-point shooting.

Syracuse (6-0) meets North Carolina-Charlotte in tonight’s championship game. The 49ers overcame a 22-point first-half deficit to defeat Florida 94-92 in the other opening-round game.

Syracuse appeared to be playing only as hard as they had to against the Seawolves (4-4), whose tallest starter was 6 feet 7. Syracuse led just 7-6 after four minutes and was ahead, 24-18, after Mark Gisseman made two free throws with 7:57 left in the half.

Then Autry came alive from beyond the three-point line. His third three-pointer in a three-minute stretch gave Syracuse a 39-23 cushion with 4:06 to play.

Syracuse has never lost an opening-round game in the tournament it has played host to for 14 years.