Now that baseball season is over, ESPN obviously gave some people some time off and deservedly so.

Both Tim Kurkjian and Jayson Stark are in attendance tonight at the Carrier Dome with their daughters, who I'm told are enrolled at Syracuse.

There are a few rows behind the Syracuse bench if you are watching at home.

15:42 to go: Syracuse 9-4. Will Brown has already lost his jacket. It may have been after one of the I think four UAlbany turnovers in the first two minutes. Nerves are clearly a factor.

The Orange are controlling the inside with Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku. Fran Urli's first career basket comes on a nice rebound and put back.

11:21 to go: Syracuse 18-10. The Orange are exploiting the fast break points, but making a few errors trying to run out. Some very athletic slams from Onuaku and Kris Joseph.

Tim Ambrose hits a big three to stop a 9-0 Syracuse run.

9:59 to go. Syracuse 22-10. UAlbany already has 10 turnovers due to the pressure and Syracuse is shooting 61.5 percent (8-13) from the field.

7:57 to go. Syracuse 24-14. The Dome was the loudest it's been when Onuaku hit both of his free throws, after airballing his first free throw of the night.

Ambrose keeping his team in it with a couple of 3-pointers, but I'm not sure how much longer UAlbany can rely on that.

3:38 to go. Syracuse 34-16. The Orange really starting to take command. UAlbany doesn't look confident with the ball against the 2-3 zone. When Syracuse showed full court press on one inbounds, the Great Danes didn't look good either.

UAlbany will need to drastically limit their turnovers for the rest of the game because Syracuse is killing them with steals that lead to lay-ins.

Halftime. Syracuse 38-20. The Great Danes looked a little bit better in the last two minutes. Mike Black got his first two points of his career, with two free throws.

The bigger story though is the sloppy play. I know it's the first night, but UAlbany has 20 turnovers and Syracuse is not much further behind with 14.

Ambrose and Onuaku both have 10 points to lead all scorers.

The problem for UAlbany is that no one else has more than three points.

Stat of Halftime. UAlbany 20 points. UAlbany 20 turnovers. Also saw former UAlbany player Lucious Jordan during intermission.