The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team continued to handle business against the opponents it’s expected to beat early in the 2026-27 campaign. Syracuse (2-0) defeated the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (0-2) 102-49 at home on Monday night.
Of note, this is the Orange’s second straight game against an opponent from the Northeast Conference ranked outside the top 300 in KenPom. But unlike its season-opener against New Haven, Syracuse didn’t let up in the second half.
After a close first few
minutes, Syracuse rolled on both ends of the court. The defense forced the Blue Devils into tough looks for most of the way, while the offense kept its foot on the gas pedal. That allowed the Orange to go up by more than 20 points at halftime and only grow the margin of victory the rest of the way.
Four Syracuse players scored in double figures, and nine got to six points or more. Gavin Doty reached a team-high 18 points, followed by Mark Morano (16 points, 4/9 from three), Luke Wilson (14 points), and Kiyan Anthony (14 points). Sadiq White Jr., Garvey Dual, Tasman Goodrick, and Amarri Monroe had eight each.
Raphel Laurent led Central Connecticut with 17 points, the only player for the Blue Devils to reach at least 10 points.
Morano got the Syracuse offense going out of the gate, scoring on a driving layup, then dishing off to Wilson for a slam dunk inside. That gave the Orange a quick 4-0 lead before Laurent got Central Connecticut on the board with a three. Morano later drilled a three off a pass from Dual to put ‘Cuse, which made four of its first five shots, up 10-5 going into the first media timeout.
Syracuse attacked the rim early, scoring 12 of its first 20 in the paint, including an and-one from Anthony to give the team its first double-digit lead of the night. A tough score from Monroe and a triple by Doty put the game at 26-11 and forced a Central Connecticut timeout.
Syracuse eventually went on a 15-2 run during the middle of the first half, capped off by another three from Morano that pushed the lead to 20 (33-13) before Jayden Mott ended CCSU’s scoring struggles with a top-of-the-key three.
The Orange maintained its double-digit lead as the first half came to a close. A quick six-point burst, thanks to another jumper from Morano, a lob dunk by White Jr. off the Ryan Moesch assist, and a score by Anthony, put ‘Cuse ahead as much as 45-21. Syracuse would go into the locker room up 24.
Six Orange players scored at least two baskets in the first half, with Morano leading the way with 10, followed by nine from Wilson, eight from White Jr., and seven from Doty. Laurent (11 points) was the only Blue Devils player who scored more than five in the half.
Syracuse picked up right where it left off coming out of halftime.
It opened the period on a 19-5 run. Wilson scored five of Syracuse’s eight and found Doty open for three to extend the margin out to 30 points (55-25).
The long ball had the Orange keep putting points on the board. Doty connected on a very long three with the shot clock winding down, while two corner threes in front of the ‘Cuse bench from Morano forced the Blue Devils to call a timeout down 38.
Anthony then started to cook off the bench. He made back-to-back baskets, including a tough one inside after an offensive rebound off his own miss. Anthony then converted a deep three-pointer to put CCSU in a 42-point hole with under 10 minutes to go. The rest of the Orange bench kept the team cruising for the remainder of the contest.
Up next for the Orange is their first true test of the 2026-27 season, and their first matchup against a Power Five opponent. Syracuse will head to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Hoosiers on Monday night.
