UAlbany Drops Season Opener To Syracuse

SYRACUSE, NY - The UAlbany basketball team went to battle Monday night without a point guard, and it paid a steep price.  The Great Danes commited 32 turnovers and lost their season opener to #25 Syracuse 75-43 at the Carrier Dome.  Senior point guard Michael Johnson is serving a two-game suspension to start the season.

The win is the 800th in the Hall of Fame career of Orange head coach Jim Boeheim.  He becomes just the eighth all time to reach that lofty plateau.

"It's a lot.  It means a lot.  All the players and the coaches who've been here to put this thing together," said Boeheim.  "We've had a lot of help for a long time, and that's why we got here."

Syracuse scored the night's first eight points before UAlbany scored seven of the next eight.  The Great Danes trailed 9-7.  However, the turnovers allowed SU to run all night long for easy scores.  And when UAlbany did get its shots off, only 27.3% went in the basket.

The Orange put five players in double figures.  Arinze Onuaku scored a game high 14 points.  Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson added 12 points and six steals.

UAlbany got 14 points from senior forward Will Harris.  The former Virginia Cavalier was limited to just 24 minutes due to early foul trouble.  Junior guard Tim Ambrose was UA's only other double figure scorer with 12.

UAlbany's next game is Friday when Morgan State visits SEFCU Arena at 7:00pm.