Senior guard Jeremy Hazell scored a game-best 28 points Tuesday night to propel the hot-shooting Seton Hall Pirates past the Syracuse Orange (No. 9 in the AP poll and No. 10 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll), 90-68, in a Big East Conference game at the Carrier Dome. The Pirates (9-12, 3-6) shot 10-for-11 in the game's first eight minutes and took a 26-16 lead with 12:14 to go in the first half. SHU, which entered the contest 13th out of 16 teams in the Big East standings, never looked back after that.
The Orange (18-3, 5-3), who dropped their third straight game, trailed by as much as 26 points in the second half. Hazell, who shot 10-for-17 from the field and 5-for-10 from 3-point land, scored 17 points in the first half to help SHU take a 43-30 halftime advantage. The Pirates started the second half with a 7-0 run that led to a 50-30 lead. SU's starting point guard Scoop Jardine netted five of his 11 points to trim the margin to 50-35 with 13:30 to go but the Orange never got closer.
SHU finished the game shooting 33-of-61 (54.1 percent) from the field and 10-for-17 from 3-point range (58.8). Junior guard Jordan Theodore, who shot 7-of-10 on field goals and 5-for-10 from 3-point land, netted 19 points, dished out seven assists and collected six rebounds. Junior forward Herb Pope had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Junior forward Kris Joseph scored a team-best 17 points for Syracuse. Senior forward Rick Jackson tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season. SU finished 26-of-72 from the floor (36.1 percent) and 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) from 3-point land.
The Syracuse basketball schedule has the Orange playing at the Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday (3 p.m.).The Seton Hall basketball schedule features the Pirates hosting the Providence Friars on Sunday (2 p.m.).