SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Freshman point guard Joe Girard III made his first collegiate career start and poured out 24 points, including 5-of-6 from deep, to lift Syracuse, 89-67, over Seattle on Saturday at the Carrier Dome.
“He is used to having the world on his shoulders for the last 4 years, but now he has others to help him,” said head coach Jim Boeheim.
Girard shot 87 percent from the field and missed his lone shot on the night at the 8:42 mark in the second half.
“I’m going to go out there and shoot the open shots,” said Girard. “Our bigs did a great job on getting me open on screens and in transition. I just want to do what I can to help this team.”
Syracuse (2-1, 0-1) came out firing and went on a 15-4 run to open up the game and made 6-of-7 shots from the field.
Forcing six turnovers, Syracuse was active on defense in the first half. The Redhawks (2-3) couldn’t find any sort of rhythm in the first half, shooting eight percent (1-12) from beyond the arc and 27 percent from the field.
The Orange’s lead was merely tested, as Seattle didn’t get within a single-digit deficit.
Junior forward Marek Dolezaj made his presence known for Syracuse, scoring 19 points on 7-for-8 from the field.
“That’s the way we need him to play,” said Boeheim. “He hasn’t played like this, this year.”
Dolezaj added four assists and two blocks, and Elijah Hughes had 15 points and six rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
Seattle’s leading scorer Terrell Brown had a team-high 23 points and seven rebounds. The Redhawks shot 37 percent from the field as a team.
Syracuse came out on top with a final score of 36-30.
The Orange look to continue their success as they remain at home for a matchup against Cornell (1-3) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.