Despite clinching the top seed in the Big East tournament earlier in the day by virtue of Notre Dame's loss, the Syracuse Orange looked anything but complacent in the first half of their road test against UConn on Saturday night, racing out to a 43-29 lead.

Syracuse senior Kris Joseph nearly matched his season scoring average with 12 first half points on 5-7 shooting, including a pair of three pointers.

Thanks in part to C.J. Fair's strong play off of the bench (seven rebounds), the Orange were able to control the glass, out rebounding UConn 21-13.

The Huskies, who continue to play without head coach Jim Calhoun as he battles lower back issues, shot just 36.7% from the field and attempted only two free throws.

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