Game Stats: PDF | HTML | Game Notes | 2008-09 Season Stats
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Jonny Flynn made a key jumper with 2 minutes to go and Eric Devendorf hit two free throws in the closing seconds, helping No. 13 Syracuse hold off South Florida 59-54 on Friday night.
Andy Rautins scored 14 points and Arinze Onuaku added 13 for the Orange, who led by 16 at halftime but struggled to put the game away, in part because of poor free-throw shooting until Devendorf stepped to the line and calmly sank both ends of a 1-and-1 with 19.2 seconds remaining.
Syracuse (14-1, 2-0 Big East) scored the last 11 points of the opening half to take a 35-19 lead at the break and appeared to be headed for an easy victory before Dominique Jones made a pair of 3-pointers to begin a methodical comeback.
USF (5-8, 0-1) pulled to 55-52 before Flynn's jumper gave the Orange breathing room.
Syracuse played without forward Paul Harris, the team's third-leading scorer. He cut his right ring finger during Tuesday's 24-point rout of Seton Hall, but his absence wasn't as much of a factor as the team's ineffective free-throw shooting.
The Orange went 7-for-18 from the line, and Onuaku was 1-for-9.
USF, beginning its fourth season in the Big East, dropped to 7-44 in conference play, although one of those victories was an 89-78 win a year ago in Syracuse's previous visit to the Sun Dome.
Devendorf came off the bench for the second consecutive game since returning from a school suspension for his role in an off-campus altercation with a female student in November.
The 6-foot-4 junior was reinstated last month after completing 40 hours of community service, and he scored 20 points against Seton Hall after missing the previous two games. He finished with eight Friday night, including two baskets in the 11-0 run Syracuse put together to end the first half.
Jones, coming off a 36-point performance in a win over Iona, scored 17 for USF, which has lost seven of nine after a 3-1 start. He was 4-of-8 on 3-point attempts, but the rest of the Bulls went 0-for-19 beyond the arc.
Mobolaji Ajayi added a career high 15 points for USF, which cut the Syracuse lead to 55-52 on a steal and Jones' breakaway layup with 3:12 to go. Flynn answered with his jumper, capping a quiet night offensively for Syracuse's leading scorer, who had 11 points - six below his average.
Ajayi led the Bulls with seven rebounds and Chris Howard had a game-high eight assists.
