Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris stood in the Syracuse locker room before tip-off, imploring teammates to dash Stephen F. Austin's upset hopes before they could even begin.
As usual, the Orange listened to their leaders - then went out and won their first NCAA Tournament game in exactly five years.
Flynn scored 16 points, Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku each added 12 and third-seeded Syracuse cruised past NCAA first-timer Stephen F. Austin.
Syracuse (27-9) ran out to a 20-4 lead over the overmatched Southland Conference champs, and will meet Arizona State in Sunday's second round.
"This is what you play for," Flynn said. "You don't come into the season saying you're playing for the Big East championship. You're playing for the NCAA championship."
Stephen F. Austin (24-8) missed 12 of its first 13 shots, started a mind-numbing 0-for-15 from 3-point range, and trailed by 26 points five minutes into the second half. A 1-3-1 zone slowed Syracuse considerably the rest of the way, but the Lumberjacks never made a serious run.
"We didn't play up to our capabilities," Lumberjacks coach Danny Kaspar said. "I think there was a bad case of the shakes with some of us, and even when that settled down, we just couldn't get it going."
Benson Akpan led Stephen F. Austin with 12 points. The Lumberjacks finished 2-for-21 from 3-point range.
The Associated Press
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