Bodog Beat

Freshman Jonny Flynn dropped 17 on the Hoyas. (AP Images)

Desperate for a win, the Syracuse Orange relied on the home crowd to contribute. More than 31,000 showed up at the Carrier Dome to do just that. The raucous atmosphere fueled the Orange and rattled the No. 8 Georgetown Hoyas in a Big East matchup of arch-rivals.

Using a 24-8 first-half run to build a 20-point lead Syracuse toppled the Hoyas, 77-70, on Saturday afternoon. The victory was the first by the Orange over a ranked team since last season. At 17-9, the Orange have slim hopes of making the NCAA Tournament but a win over Georgetown will certainly help their cause.

Paul Harris led the way with 22 points while freshmen Donte Greene (18) and Jonny Flynn (17) also had big games as Syracuse rebounded from an embarrassing loss to South Florida on Wednesday.

The underdog Orange beat the point spread, which favored the Hoyas by 3.5.

In other notable Top 25 games on Saturday:

No. 3 Kansas 69, Colorado 45: Mario Chalmers had 13 points and Darnell Jackson had 12 as the Jayhawks blew out the Buffaloes. The game was a push.

No. 4 Tennessee 74, Georgia 71: After being held to just three points in the first half, Chris Lofton exploded for 19 after intermission as the Volunteers held off the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga. Tennessee failed to cover the 8-point spread.

No. 5 North Carolina 92, Virginia Tech 53: Tyler Hansbrough’s 23 points led the way for the Tar Heels, who won easily as 13-point favorites in Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 7 Stanford 67, Arizona 66: The surprising Cardinal improved to 21-4 and also beat the point spread, which favored the host Wildcats by two.

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