Syracuse 76, Seton Hall 65
NEWARK, N.J. -- The final Big East game between two of its charter members followed the form that most of the previous 62 went.
No. 6 Syracuse (21-4, 9-3 Big East) turned back Seton Hall 76-65 on Saturday night before a record Prudential Center crowd of 13,569.
The Orange, who will play in the ACC next season, ended the series that started in 1979 with a 47-16 edge over their New Jersey rivals. Syracuse has won 31 of its last 36 Big East games.
Brandon Triche led the Orange with a career-high 29 points and C.J. Fair contributed 19 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Fuquan Edwin led Seton Hall (13-13, 2-11) with 21 points.
The win ended the Orange's three-game road losing streak. Coach Jim Boeheim's team had lost at Villanova (75-71), Pittsburgh (65-55) and Connecticut (66-58). Syracuse had not lost three consecutive games on the road since the 2008-09 season when it lost five straight.
Seton Hall was dismal from the free-throw line for the second consecutive game. It converted just 17 of 29 attempts (58.6 percent), compared with Syracuse's 69 percent (20 of 29). In Seton Hall's 78-67 loss to Connecticut on Feb. 10, the Pirates shot just 35 percent from the line (6 of 17). They are next to last in the Big East in free-throw shooting at 64 percent. Syracuse leads the conference at 76 percent.
The Pirates drew within six at 60-54 with 5:52 to play but were victimized by a 9-2 run by the Orange to make it 69-56 with 3:09 to go. Triche scored five points in the spurt.
After successfully busting Syracuse's 2-3 zone with some long-range shooting early in the first half, Seton Hall went into a scoring drought. The Pirates' first three baskets were via the 3-pointer and led 21-12 with 11:15 left, then they didn't score from the field for almost eight minutes.
The Orange took advantage of the deficiency by going on a 17-4 run to move ahead 29-25 with 3:24 to go in the half. Triche scored seven of his team-high 14 points in the burst.
Seton Hall pulled to 29-28 on a Harolds Karlis 3-pointer, but Syracuse countered with a 7-2 run to close at the half with a 36-30 cushion.
Fuquan Edwin and Karlis paced the Pirates with eight points apiece in the half.
NOTES: Because of the large crowd, the upper level of the Prudential Center was open for the first time since Seton Hall began playing its Big East games there in 2007-08. ... Seton Hall is 69-226 all time against teams ranked in the Top 25. ... Syracuse sophomore guard Michael Carter-Williams ranks second in the nation in assists per game (8.21) and third in steals per game (3.13).
