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No. 2 Syracuse outlasts upset-minded Miami for second time in January

Syracuse v Miami

CORAL GABLES, FL - JANUARY 25: Jerami Grant #3 of the Syracuse Orangemen dunks the ball against the Miami Hurricanes on January 25, 2014 at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jerami Grant

Joel Auerbach

Syracuse remains unbeaten on the season and the No. 2 Orange have to be pleased that Miami is no longer on the ACC schedule until a potential match-up in the conference tournament in March.

After giving Syracuse a scare earlier in the month on the road, Miami gave the Orange another fight on Saturday as Syracuse held on for the 64-52 road win. The ACC win makes Syracuse 19-0 on the season and 6-0 in conference play.

The Orange jumped out to a 26-8 lead in the first half, but Miami clawed back to make it 31-26 game at halftime. In the second half, Syracuse could never manage to pull away until the final minutes, and it looked like Miami would be around for the remainder of the game after the Hurricanes took a 47-46 lead with 8:20 remaining on a Davon Reed three-point play.

But Syracuse managed to hold Miami to only five points the final 8:20 of the game as the Orange’s defense and rebounding (39-24 Syracuse rebound advantage) really stepped up in the last eight minutes of the game. Although he’s shot poorly during the ACC portion of the schedule, guard Trevor Cooney also hit a critical three-pointer with just over two minutes left to give Syracuse the 56-50 lead and the Orange were able to hold on from there.

Senior C.J. Fair paced Syracuse with 15 points and seven rebounds while Jerami Grant (eight rebounds) and Tyler Ennis (five rebounds, four assists) each chipped in 14 points. Cooney finished with 11 in the game.

Miami does a nice job of slowing the game down and limiting turnovers (five turnovers on Saturday) but they just don’t have the firepower to match the Orange. Reed led Miami with 16 points off of the bench while Rion Brown added 13 points.

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