SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - No. 25 Cincinnati lost to No. 4 Syracuse 67-52 on Saturday at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
Cincinnati hit 9 of 19 3-pointers in the first half to rally from an early 15-point deficit but missed its first seven shots of the second to fall behind by 20 points with 14:07 left.
Syracuse broke open a tight game with a 16-0 run to start the second half. SU center Fab Melo had four points and Brandon Triche and James Southerland each hit 3-pointers to key the game-changing charge.
Dion Dixon led Cincinnati (16-2, 3-2) with 18 points, all on 3-pointers, and Sean Kilpatrick had 11.
Against the Orange, Cincinnati was just 2 of 11 shooting in the first eight minutes of the game as Syracuse built a 15-point lead.
Kilpatrick hit a pair of 3s and Larry Davis added another to close the gap to 20-12 with 9:28 remaining in the half.
The Bearcats continued to fire from outside - they made only one basket inside in the period - and the strategy worked. Cashmere Wright hit two 3s and Dixon had three in the final 7:03 to narrow Syracuse's lead to 35-31 at halftime.
Cincinnati finished the half 9 of 19 (47.4 percent) from beyond the arc against the team that led the conference in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 27.3 percent.
Cincinnati entered the game leading the Big East with a plus-5.47 turnover margin and had forced more turnovers than assists allowed in every game, the best active streak in Division I. That ended in this one as Syracuse registered 16 assists against 13 turnovers.
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