With both No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 Ohio State losing Saturday, Syracuse stands on the brink of becoming the new No. 1 team in the land come Monday.
Behind a career-high 19 points and a couple of SportsCenter-worth dunks from Dion Waiters, the No. 3 and unbeaten Orange (10-0) beat George Washington, 85-50. They don’t play again until Dec. 17 against N.C. State.
“Whatever happens, happens,” Orange coach Jim Boeheim said. “We’ll just have to be ready for next week.”
Carmelo Anthony texted Syracuse point guard Scoop Jardine to offer his congratulations: “Great job. We are #1. Time to focus in. This what we wanted. We have it now. Time to turn it up a notch and lock in.”
Kentucky fell at Indiana, 73-72, on a last-second 3-pointer by Christian Watford, while a Jared Sullilnger-less Ohio State lost at No. 13 Kansas, 78-67.
No. 4 North Carolina beat Long Beach, 84-78, and No. 5 Louisville remained undefeated after an 80-58 thrashing of FDU.
