Long Beach State stayed with Syracuse early before an 18-4 run to start the second half secured a 79-55 win for the Orange in front of 17,244 fans at the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon.
Arinze Onuaku led the way for 13th-ranked Syracuse (9-0) with 17 points and six rebounds. Onuaku was a perfect 7-of-7 from the field.
Guard Eric Devendorf, in the news this week after appealing a suspension from the university, started and scored 13 points and added five assists.
‘They are a talented team. We got very frustrated offensively and we couldn’t get into an offensive rhythm, and that made our defense break,” LBSU head coach Dan Monson said. “It is pretty much the same thing that has happened to us the last couple games.
“We are a young team, very fragile right now. We did not play well.”
LBSU (4-5) was paced for a second consecutive game by T.J. Robinson, who had 12 points. Stephan Gilling also scored 12 via four 3-pointers.
All 14 of Gilling’s field goal attempts came from 3-point range.
Syracuse led by just three points with 1:15 to go in the first half after a Larry Anderson brought the game to 33-30. But Devendorf scored the final four points of the half and the Orange went into intermission with a seven-point lead.
Onuaku scored eight points in Syracuse’s 18-4 burst that pushed the lead to 55-34 with 13:27 to play. LBSU went over six minutes without a basket during that spurt.
After Cornel Williams drained a 3 pointer and Casper Ware added a bucket, the ‘Niners cut the deficit to 16 but Syracuse responded with a big run again.
A 21-8 outburst by the Orange pushed the score to 76-47 with 3:09 to play, and there was no looking back for head coach Jim Boeheim’s team.
Both of the marquee stars for each team struggled.
Donovan Morris had just one point after the 12:36 mark of the first half, scoring a season-low five on just 2-of-15 shooting.
Syracuse’s super-sophomore Jonny Flynn scored only nine points, but the Orange didn’t need a spectacular performance from him.
LBSU shot just under 50 percent from inside the arc, making 16-of-37, but made only 5-of-36 (13.9 percent) 3-point attempts.
Both teams grabbed 12 offensive rebounds but it was Syracuse who dominated the defensive glass, pulling down 36 to finish with 48 boards total to LBSU’s 33.
Larry Anderson added six points, six rebounds and six assists for the 49ers, who fell to 1-5 on the road.
Andy Rautins poured in 13 points for Syracuse while Rick Jackson added 11 points and nine rebounds.
Robinson led all scorers in the first half, making his first five shots to enter the break with 11 points for The Beach. Gilling added nine points on a trio of 3-pointers for the 49ers.
The Orange led 37-30 at the intermission and were sparked by Jackson and Devendorf, who scored nine points apiece.
LBSU was able to hang tough with the Orange throughout the first half.
An Onuaku jam and layup gave Syracuse its largest lead of the half, 29-20, with under five minutes left. The ‘Niners responded with a Robinson jumper and two 3-pointers from Gilling to cut the deficit to 32-28 with 2:30 remaining.
Monson went with a different starting lineup for the second straight game, electing to start 7-footer Andrew Fleming at center to counter Syracuse’s size.
It was just the second double-digit loss of the season for LBSU since dropping the season opener at Brigham Young, 75-65.
The 49ers will return home next Saturday to host Montana State at the Walter Pyramid. Tip-off is slated for 3:05 p.m.