No. 16 Miami downs No. 18 'Cuse for first Carrier Dome win

The Associated Press SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Johnny Hemsley scored 21 points and Tim James added 18 Monday night, leading No. 16 Miami to a 76-63 victory over No. 18 Syracuse. It was the third straight home loss for Syracuse (16-8, 7-7 Big East), which trailed for most of the game. And it was the first win for Miami (16-5, 10-3 Big East) in the Carrier Dome in seven tries. James, Mario Bland and Vernon Jennings keyed a 15-point second-half run by Miami that finally put the Orangemen away. Miami outrebounded Syracuse 33-23 and shot 50 percent against the Syracuse zone. Syracuse took a brief 50-47 lead midway through the period on the heels of consecutive three-pointers by Allen Griffin and Jason Hart and a slam dunk by Etan Thomas. But the Hurricanes refused to fold as the crowd tried to spur the Orangemen on. Bland's rebound basket -- on the fourth Miami attempt underneath -- and a dunk by James put the Hurricanes back in front to stay. While Syracuse failed to score for nearly five minutes, missing a trio of three-pointers, the Hurricanes ran away. John Salmons hit a three-pointer and Jennings, who had 11 assists in the game, nailed a short jumper for a 56-50 edge with 7:39 left. Bland converted an alley-oop from Jennings, James hit a jumper and Hemsley converted two free throws and the Orangemen were cooked. Bland and Salmons each scored 12 points for Miami, which gained sole possession of second place in the Big East behind UConn. Syracuse failed to get the ball to center Etan Thomas, and the Orangemen paid in the end. Thomas, who had seven blocks, took only six shots and scored eight points. Griffin led the Orangemen with 18 points and Jason Hart had 17. As unpredictable as the Orangemen have been this season, nobody could have foreseen what has happened to them in the last two games. On Saturday night in a 75-60 loss to Villanova, the starting backcourt of Hart, the team's leading scorer, and Griffin failed to score, missing a dozen shots between them. In the first half against the Hurricanes, starting forwards Damone Brown and Ryan Blackwell managed just one point and combined for just nine in the game. If not for some nifty play by backup center Elvir Ovcina, who had four points and two assists, Syracuse would have trailed by much more than 31-24 at halftime.