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SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - C.J. Fair scored 19 points, Trevor Cooney had 17 and No. 4 Syracuse hit Binghamton with a long-range barrage in a 93-65 victory on Saturday night.
Syracuse (9-0), which beat Indiana 69-52 on Tuesday night, upped its nonconference home winning streak to 48 games in the Carrier Dome and figures to move up to No. 2 next week after top-ranked Michigan State and No. 3 Kentucky lost this week.
With a starting lineup of one sophomore and four freshmen, Binghamton (2-7) figured to struggle against the bigger, more athletic Orange, and the Bearcats did after a solid start.
Jerami Grant had 14 points for Syracuse, Dajuan Coleman had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Ron Patterson added a season-high 10 points, hitting two of the Orange's 13 3-pointers, two off the school record.
Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis had his first off-game of the season, picking up four fouls and finishing with three points and three assists in 19 minutes.
Sophomore Jordan Reed, who leads Binghamton in nearly every statistical category, led the Bearcats with a season-high 26 points and seven rebounds. Marlon Beck II had 14 points and Nick Madray 11.
Syracuse was torched three times from long range in the first 4 minutes. Beck started the surge with a 3 from the right wing and Madray followed with two more, the second giving the Bearcats an 11-3 lead as Ennis picked up two quick fouls and went to the bench.
The Bearcats had snapped a four-game losing streak with a 74-70 victory at Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday night, thanks to 68 percent shooting, but they nearly blew a 19-point lead by committing 23 turnovers against a pressing defense.
The Orange used the same strategy to rally and it worked like a charm. Syracuse reeled off 18 straight points, the first 10 coming in 76 seconds thanks in part to three steals. Michael Gbinije started the surge with a 3, Cooney added two more, and Grant finished it with a resounding two-handed slam dunk to give the Orange an 21-11 lead at 12:46.
Binghamton notched just four baskets in the final 10:51 of the first half as the Orange steadily pulled away. Syracuse hit nine 3-pointers, nabbed eight steals, scored 22 points off Binghamton's 11 turnovers, and out-rebounded the Bearcats 24-15, 12-5 on the offensive glass, to take a 54-30 halftime lead.
Syracuse finished 13 of 36 from long range, forced 18 turnovers and notched 12 steals. Binghamton finished 6 of 22 from beyond the arc after its hot start.
Three of Syracuse's freshmen _ Patterson, B.J. Johnson, and Tyler Roberson _ hadn't played in five games, since the Orange's 69-50 win over Colgate on Nov. 16. That changed after Ennis picked up his second foul less than 4 minutes into the game.
Patterson played 15 minutes, one more than Johnson and Roberson, who had six points. Johnson was 0 for 5, all on 3-pointers.
Syracuse led by 33 midway through the second half after 3-pointers by Patterson and Gbinije and a putback by Coleman. The Orange's biggest lead was 37 in the closing minutes.
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