The No. 17 Syracuse Orange ended their three-game road stretch with a solid 72-49 victory Saturday afternoon against the South Florida Bulls in a Big East Conference contest at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, FL. Senior forward Rick Jackson collected 21 points and 12 rebounds for his16th double-double of the season. Teammate junior forward Kris Joseph added 14 points while freshman guard Dion Waiters added 10 points off the bench.
The Orange (20-4, 7-4), who beat the Connecticut Huskies (No. 6 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) Wednesday night, are now on a two-game winning streak after losing four consecutive. Currently, SU is tied with the Georgetown Hoyas for fifth place in the Big East standings. USF (8-16, 2-9) has lost four of it's last five games and sits 15th in the 16-team league.
Syracuse, which did trail 11-10 early in the first half, used a 12-0 run to take a 22-11 advantage with about eight minutes to go in the first half. From there, the Orange never looked back. SU finished 25-of-56 from the floor (44.6 percent) and owned the rebound margin, 40-26.
Senior forward Jarrid Famous scored a team-best 14 points for USF. Teammate and the Bulls leading scorer, junior forward Augustus Gilchrist, netted just four points. USF shot just 18-of-51 from the field (35.3 percent) and 2-of-15 (13.3) from behind the 3-point arc.
The Syracuse basketball schedule has the Orange hosting conference rival the Georgetown Hoyas (No. 13 in the AP poll and No. 14 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) on Wednesday night (7 p.m.). Next Saturday, Syracuse travels to the Louisville Cardinals (No. 15 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll).