NEW YORK — Scoop Jardine scored a career-high 22 points, Wes Johnson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Syracuse raced past No. 13 California 95-73 on Thursday night in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic.
Arinze Onuaku added 12 points for Syracuse, which out-muscled, outran and pretty much out-everythinged California. The Orange (3-0) will play No. 6 North Carolina or No. 15 Ohio State for the championship tonight in the tournament benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Syracuse confounded the Bears (2-1) from the tip with coach Jim Boeheim's trademark zone defense, building a double-digit lead by halftime.
The Orange then put the game away with a brutally efficient 15-4 run early in the second half, taking a 64-41 lead on freshman Brandon Triche's three-point play with just over 15 minutes remaining.
The final could have been much more lopsided if not for Cal star Jerome Randle, who hit a 3-pointer during a 9-0 spurt while trying vainly to rally his team back. Randle finished with 25 points.
"If we would have done a better job defending," he said, "then we would have won the game."
Jamal Boykin added 14 points and Patrick Christopher 12 for Cal, a veteran team coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament in coach Mike Montgomery's first season. With four seniors in the regular starting lineup, the Bears are a trendy pick to win the Pac-10 title and reach the Final Four.
They struggled past Murray State in their opener, though, and looked even more uncomfortable against the more physical team from the Big East. Even when Cal managed to get the ball inside that suffocating zone defense, the massive bodies of Onuaku and Rick Jackson made the going unpleasant.
On one trip down the floor, Omondi Amoke and Markhuri Sanders-Frison had shots stuffed seconds apart, and the fast break led to an easy layup by Jardine.
"I don't think any question their size — they had nine blocks," Montgomery said, almost in disbelief. "That takes a little wind out of your sails. They took away the inside game."
California played without senior sharpshooter Theo Robertson, who averaged 18 points the first two games. He had a swollen foot and wasn't available; Montgomery wasn't sure when he'll return.
• No. 1 KANSAS 94, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 44, at Lawrence, Kan. — Tyrel Reed hit four 3-pointers for 12 points and the Jayhawks (3-0) scored 23 unanswered points in the first half to overwhelm the Bears (1-2).
• No. 6 NORTH CAROLINA 77, No. 15 OHIO ST. 73, at New York — Deon Thompson had 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Tar Heels (4-0) edge the Buckeyes (2-1) in the 2K Sports Classic semifinals. North Carolina will face Syracuse in tonight's title game.
• No. 4 KENTUCKY 102, SAM HOUSTON ST. 92, at Lexington, Ky. — DeMarcus Cousins had 27 points and 18 rebounds to help the Wildcats (3-0) outlast the Bearkats (2-1). Patrick Patterson had 20 points and John Wall added 21 points and six assists.
• No. 5 VILLANOVA 69, GEORGE MASON 68, at San Juan, Puerto Rico — The first basket of Isaiah Armwood's college basketball career was a big one. The freshman hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, rallying the Wildcats (3-0) to the win. "He was the last one I wanted to take the shot. I'll be honest," Villanova coach Jay Wright admitted.
• No. 24 MINNESOTA 76, UTAH VALLEY 51, at Minneapolis — Freshman Rodney Williams had 17 points, six rebounds and four steals in his first career start, helping the Golden Gophers (3-0) pull away from Utah Valley (1-2) in the second half.
• WEST — Seattle's Cervante' Burrell scored on a baseline reverse with 8.3 seconds left, then stole the ball on Fresno State's final possession to seal an 85-84 win. The Redhawks rallied from down 81-75 with 1:40 left. ... Billy White scored 17 points and San Diego State (2-1) used an 18-0 run in to rout Santa Clara (2-1) 86-53 in the West Coast Classic. ... At South Bend, Ind., guard Ben Hansbrough scored 11 points to spark Notre Dame (3-0) to an 82-62 win over Long Beach State (2-1). ... An outage that left 1,300 homes in Flagstaff without power caused the suspension of the Pacific-Northern Arizona game. Northern Arizona was up 45-43 with 8:52 left.
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