James Southerland was the spark Syracuse needed to help burn away an ominous start.

Floundering early against Albany, the Orange turned to Southerland for some offense. And he got hot from outside. With 11 minutes left in the first half, only up four, Brandon Triche hit Southerland for a 3 on the right wing. A minute later, Dion Waiters was stopped trying to drive baseline and threw a pass out to Southerland in the same spot.

Another 3 and Syracuse had its first double-digit lead in what became a blowout.

‘My team was struggling a little bit offensively,’ Southerland said. ‘So I went in there, gave a little spark and since then, everything was rolling.’

Southerland knocked down 6-of-9 shots in the first half to propel No. 5 Syracuse to a comfortable halftime lead. Despite a poor beginning, the Orange (3-0) nearly reached the century mark in a 98-74 win over Albany (1-2) in front of 17,189 at the Carrier Dome on Tuesday in the NIT Season Tip-Off. Once Southerland — who finished with a career-high 19 points — got going, others followed. Kris Joseph also scored 19 points and Baye Moussa Keita contributed a career-high 14.

With the win, the Orange advances to the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off in Madison Square Garden next Wednesday. Syracuse will play in the 9 p.m. game against Virginia Tech, which defeated Florida International 78-63 on Tuesday to advance.

But if it wasn’t for Southerland, Tuesday could have been dicey.

‘From the beginning, we really weren’t ready to go, and James really saved the first half,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He made a bunch of shots. Or it would have been a real close game.’

Southerland and Joseph’s hot shooting, along with a colossal advantage in rebounds, led SU through a first half in which Boeheim said the Orange’s execution on offense wasn’t good at all.

Joseph was pulled out just 1:19 into the game for what he said were ‘careless mistakes.’ He checked back in less than two minutes later, with SU fighting an early 6-2 deficit.

His return had immediate effects, as he scored six straight points to give SU its first lead.

‘(Boeheim) just had a word with me and I went back in, and I did what I do out there,’ Joseph said. ‘I made a 3-point shot, I was open, I knocked it down. I slashed to the basket, that’s just what I have to do.’

But the Orange was still in a dogfight until Southerland came in to rescue the team offensively.

Joseph said Syracuse’s early struggles were due to the matchup zone defense Albany played. Syracuse spent the early portion of the game feeling it out, passing the ball around the arc and looking for opportunities to drive.

Those chances first came about midway through the first half when the SU guards began to pierce the Great Danes’ defense without as much resistance. When Albany closed in on the driver, he kicked it out to Southerland or Joseph.

Southerland’s second 3, off the feed from Waiters, put SU up 28-18.

Waiters then got a piece of Albany guard Gerardo Suero’s shot on the other end, and Fab Melo rebounded the ball. He found Waiters with an outlet pass, and Waiters pushed the issue, driving into the paint.

He again dished to Southerland, who this time made a short jumper to put the Orange up 30-18.

‘If he has that same mindset where he can come off the bench and be aggressive like that,’ Waiters said, ‘it’s going to be hard to stop us this year.’

After that, Syracuse began to overpower the Great Danes. Freshman guard Michael Carter-Williams drove hard to a spot at the top of the key and fired a pass down low to Keita for a bucket to put SU up 13.

Two SU possessions later, off a Carter-Williams miss, Keita flew in for a rebound and made the follow. The Orange outrebounded Albany 28-13 in the first half and 47-29 for the game.

Syracuse took a 51-34 lead into the break and never looked back. When Albany got as close as it came in the second half, 69-53, Joseph got open and hit a jumper from the left wing to end the Great Danes’ 8-0 run.

And with the game well in hand with less than two minutes to go, Southerland hit a 3 from the left corner to set a career-high total of 19 points and put SU up 94-74.

‘James really was a torch for us tonight,’ Joseph said. ‘He carried us, and we need that.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on November 15, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr