James Southerland scored a collegiate-best 35 points Friday to propel the No. 5-ranked Syracuse Orange to 91-82 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks in a non-conference men's basketball game at Bud Walton Arena. The victory was just the Orange's second non-conference "true" road win in four seasons.
"This was probably one of the toughest environments I've ever played in," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said after the game. "It was very tough, very noisy."
SU's senior forward made a school record nine 3-pointers, a mark also held former guards Gerry McNamara and Andy Rautins. Southerland also tallied the most points by an SU player since Jonny Flynn's 34 in the classic six-over time game against the Connecticut Huskies in 2009.
Syracuse led by as much as 15 points in the second half, but Arkansas (3-3) rallied to close the gap to five, 59-54, with 12:40 to remaining.
Thanks to 10 straight points by senior guard Brandon Triche, who scored 17, the Orange pushed their lead back to double digits, 67-56, with 10:00 to go.
From there, SU held on as Arkansas was unable to make any shots from behind the 3-point arc (5-for-24, 21-percent).
"Brandon stepped up big," Boeheim said. "James was great, but Brandon stepped up - hit those two 3s - and really took over."
The Orange were able to overcome a huge disparity at the free-throw line, Arkansas went 29-for-36 from the charity stripe while Syracuse was 14-for-24, and 20 turnovers.
SU sophomore point guard Michael Carter-Williams nearly tallied a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Junior forward C.J. Fair added 14 points and four points.
Arkansas was paced by B.J. Young's 25 points, while forward Marshawn Powell had 19.