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Todd Burgan scored 19 points and Jason Hart added 18 and eight assists as number 23 Syracuse pulled away in the second half and defeated Buffalo, 82-70, to remain perfect this season. Syracuse (8-0) struggled to a 39-32 lead at halftime but used a 25-11 run to start the second half and open a 64-43 advantage with 8:39 left. Ryan Blackwell totaled 16 points and 12 rebounds and Etan Thomas added 10 points and six blocks for the Orangemen, who put away the game by shooting56 percent (14-of-25) in the second half.

"Buffalo came out and was ready to play," said Hart. "They didn't back down one bit. I think we stepped it up with the one and that helped us build up the lead."

The win was the fourth in a row and fifth this season by double digits for the Orangemen, who improved to 4-0 when scoring 80 or more points.

Buffalo (5-4) went on a 20-10 run with five Syracuse freshmen on the court to pull to within 74-65 with 1:02 remaining. But the Orangemen hit 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

"We have to come out and play 40 minutes of basketball, not 20 minutes of basketball," said Blackwell. "It was an ugly game, nothing that we're very proud of."

Mike Martinho had 23 points before fouling out and Rasaun Young added 21 for the Bulls, which shot 37 percent (13-of-35) from the field in the second half and received 12 points from their bench. They hit 9-of-22 three-pointers in the game.

"I'm disappointed," said Buffalo coach Tim Cohane. "I don't feel good about this. I think we could have played better at the beginning of the second half and won the game. We thought we were in the game even when we were down by 20. That's a plus."

Buffalo lost for the third time on the road this season and were facing a ranked opponent for the first time since the 1993-94 campaign.

"They've (Buffalo) played very well this year," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. "This is a good win. We're happy to get it."

The Orangemen improved to 26-5 all-time in the series as the schools met for the first time in the Carrier Dome. Buffalo has not defeated Syracuse since a 63-61 overtime victory in the 1962-63 season.

BUFFALO (70)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Young           36  8-17   5-9   2-5  3  4   21
Mcmillen        31  3-10   1-3   2-4  0  3    8
Alkhas          24   2-3   2-2   1-4  0  1    6
Peterson        30   0-1   0-0   0-2  7  0    0
Martinho        36  7-14   3-3   1-4  4  5   23
Harris           5   0-4   0-0   2-3  0  0    0
Lu               0   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Kleidon          8   1-1   0-0   0-1  2  1    2
Libomi           2   1-1   0-0   0-0  0  0    2
Clemens         19   3-9   0-0   2-5  3  1    8
Gustafsson       2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Alexeev          7   0-0   0-0   0-1  0  2    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 25-61 11-17 10-29 19 18   70
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.410, FT-.647. 3-Point Goals:
9-22, .409 (Young 0-1, Mcmillen 1-4, Martinho
6-12, Clemens 2-5). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked
shots: 1 (Martinho). Turnovers: 16 (Peterson 6,
Alexeev 2, Alkhas 2, Martinho 2, Young 2, Harris,
Mcmillen). Steals: 8 (Peterson 4, Martinho 2,
Young 2).

SYRACUSE (82)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Burgan          31  6-13   4-5   1-5  2  1   19
Blackwell       31  6-10   2-3  4-12  2  1   16
Thomas          25   4-5   2-4   2-4  0  3   10
Hart            32  7-11   3-5   0-1  8  2   18
Janulis         24   3-8   0-0   0-4  5  2    8
Howard          11   1-3   0-0   1-2  0  1    2
Campbell         5   1-1   0-0   0-1  0  0    2
Spann            1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Griffin          8   0-1   0-0   1-1  2  2    0
Williams        11   2-2   0-0   0-2  1  1    4
Brown            6   0-3   1-2   1-2  0  0    1
Ovcina          15   1-3   0-0   1-4  3  3    2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 31-60 12-19 11-38 23 16   82
_______________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.517, FT-.632. 3-Point Goals:
8-20, .400 (Burgan 3-6, Blackwell 2-4, Hart 1-2,
Janulis 2-5, Howard 0-1, Brown 0-1, Ovcina 0-1).
Team rebounds: 1. Blocked shots: 9 (Thomas 6,
Ovcina 2, Brown). Turnovers: 16 (Hart 4, Burgan
3, Ovcina 2, Williams 2, Brown, Campbell,
Griffin, Howard, Janulis). Steals: 9 (Hart 3,
Blackwell 2, Ovcina 2, Burgan, Janulis).
__________________________________
Buffalo            32   38  -   70
Syracuse           39   43  -   82
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None.  A: 17,080. Officials: Don
Rutledge, Bruce Benedict, Tony Greene.