Syracuse beats Colgate by 57 ... and it wasn't that close

With Syracuse comfortably ahead of overmatched Colgate on Saturday night, the orange-clad crowd at the Carrier Dome rose to its feet and roared in salute of a three-pointer from seldom-used walk-on forward Matt Tomaszewski.

It was a scene reminiscent of ones that occur in the final seconds of blowouts all over the nation except for one slight difference: Almost seven minutes remained on the game clock.

Syracuse could afford to empty its bench early in Saturday's 100-43 victory over Colgate because the outcome had long since been decided. The Orange led 12-0 before Colgate got its first bucket, 34-4 with eight minutes remaining in the first half and 46-8 by halftime, building the advantage to as many as 63 points midway through the second half.

The 57-point final margin equaled a 129-72 win over C.W. Post back in 1989 for Syracuse's largest win in coach Jim Boeheim's 35-year tenure. Only a 22-19 game-ending flourish from Colgate against a lineup of backups and walk-ons prevented Syracuse from shattering that mark.

Perhaps it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that this game was as one-sided as it was considering the history of this Upstate New York series.

Colgate has lost 45 straight games to Syracuse since its last win during the 1961-62 season. The Raiders entered this game winless this season, whereas the Orange were undefeated and riding the momentum from a victory over Michigan State at Madison Square Garden earlier in the week.

The lone knock on Syracuse had been its woeful outside shooting, but the Orange emerged from that slump in a big way. Six Syracuse players made three-pointers as the Orange shot 11 of 25 from behind the arc and 56.2 percent from the field.

On the other hand, Colgate didn't exactly solve Syracuse's trademark two-three zone.

The Raiders made only 3 of 28 first-half shots and 7 of 28 in the second to finish at 17.9 percent shooting for the game. Their eight first-half points were a new Carrier Dome record for offensive futility in a half, though they did manage to eclipse their final point total from a 58-35 loss at Syracuse in 2005.

Estella Warren Cinthia Moura Monica Potter Brittany Snow Lauren German