Syracuse Suffers First Loss

Imperfect in almost every way Monday night, No. 4 Syracuse is perfect no more.

Darius Lane made a three-point shot with 39 seconds left at Syracuse, N.Y., to lift Seton Hall to a 69-67 victory over the previously unbeaten Orangemen, whose season-opening win streak ended at 19 games.

The win--Seton Hall’s third in a row in the Carrier Dome--moved the Pirates (16-4, 8-2) within a game of the Big East-leading Orangemen (19-1, 9-1).

“We fought, we battled ,” said Shaheed Holloway, who had 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. “We wanted to come in and try to make a statement, and I think we did that. It makes it that much sweeter because they were undefeated.”

Syracuse still managed to have the lead in the final minute despite making only two of 13 three-point attempts, shooting 37.3%, and getting only seven points combined from starters Damone Brown, Ryan Blackwell and Tony Bland.

With the noise from the Carrier Dome crowd of 23,735 reaching deafening levels, Blackwell scored his only points with 1:07 left, making two free throws to put Syracuse ahead, 67-66.

Lane, who finished with 20 points, followed with his game-deciding three-point basket--the Pirates’ 12th in 28 attempts. The Orangemen missed three shots in the final 10 seconds--one from three-point range by Preston Shumpert and close-in attempts by Blackwell and Etan Thomas.

“Our effort wasn’t that good on defense,” said Syracuse point guard Jason Hart, who scored a team-high 14 points but had no assists. “They just hit some tough shots. You can’t allow a team to just sit out there and hit three-point shots.”

The game was rescheduled from Jan. 22 because of a dormitory fire that killed three Seton Hall students.

No. 14 Oklahoma State 86, No. 20 Kansas 53--Desmond Mason scored 31 points as the Cowboys routed the Jayhawks at Stillwater, Okla., giving Coach Roy Williams the worst loss of his 400-game career.

Oklahoma State (19-2, 8-1 in the Big 12) shut down the conference’s highest-scoring team for its fifth consecutive victory and ninth in the 10 games. The Cowboys also ended a losing streak at eight games to the Jayhawks. Kirk Hinrich had 12 points for Kansas (17-6, 6-3).

WOMEN’S TOP 25

No. 19 Boston College 78, Seton Hall 58--Jamie Cournoyer scored 33 points, the most by a Big East women’s player this season, as the Eagles (19-5, 8-2) defeated the Pirates (7-12, 1-8) at Boston. Cournoyer made 13 of 16 shots.

North Carolina 66, No. 22 Virginia 63--Nikki Teasley scored 20 of her 24 points in the second half and overtime as the Tar Heels (12-10, 4-7 Atlantic Coast) upset the Cavaliers (17-6, 9-2) at Chapel Hill, N.C.