Kris Joseph had 17 points and six rebounds and Scoop Jardine added 13 points and six assists as No. 4 Syracuse rebounded from its only loss of the season with a 60-53 victory at Cincinnati on Monday.

The Orange (21-1, 8-1 Big East) overcome the absence of Fab Melo as their 2-3 zone missed its 7-foot center for the second straight game reportedly because of academic issues. Unlike Saturday’s 67-58 loss at Notre Dame, though, Syracuse didn’t miss its late shots.

After Cincinnati (15-6, 5-3) erased a three-point halftime deficit, Jardine and Brandon Triche made back-to-back 3-pointers inside the 10-minute mark to spark a 12-2 run and the Orange claimed a 52-44 lead they never surrendered. Joseph was 8 for 11 from the floor.

The Orange, however, are still waiting for Dion Waiters to catch fire. Perhaps the team’s most dynamic scorer, the sophomore was 1 of 5 before being benched.

Yancy Gates had 16 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double, but it still wasn’t enough to prevent the Bearcats from dropping consecutive games for the first time this season.

Gates had his way inside at times as Syracuse was too thin to match up with the bulking forward. Syracuse freshman Rakeem Christmas, though, manned up down the stretch, preventing second-chance opportunities en route to a career-high nine rebounds.

Cashmere Wright scored 17 points and went 5 of 8 from behind the arc, but a season-high nine turnovers in the first half kept Cincinnati from pulling away early.