Dion Waiters celebrated his birthday with a career-high 19 points, leading Syracuse to an 85-50 win over George Washington at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse (10-0) leads the all-time series against George Washington 8-1. George Washington (4-4) has lost four straight games.

Syracuse took control from the tip, jumping out to a 13-2 lead to start the game. The Orange quickened the pace, thriving off transition buckets. They took a 45-25 lead at the half, highlighted by two thunderous dunks from Waiters, who scored 10 of his points in the opening 20 minutes.

George Washington head coach Mike Lonergan sat leading scorer Tony Taylor to start the game, eventually allowing his star senior to see the floor. Taylor scored just five points – all in the first half.

The Colonials cut the Orange lead to 15 points early into the second half, forcing Jim Boeheim to call a quick timeout. That would be as close as George Washington would get. Syracuse finished shooting 50 percent from the floor while limiting George Washington to just 30 percent shooting.

James Southerland's two-handed dunk put Syracuse up 31 points with just over eight minutes remaining, serving as a final knockout blow to George Washington. David Pellom led the Colonials with 12 points off the bench.

Syracuse forward Kris Joseph, who scored nine points, was competing against his brother Maurice Joseph, who is a first-year assistant with the Colonials.

No. 3 Syracuse is in position to take over the top spot in the polls with No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 Ohio State losing Saturday.