MIAMI (AP) -- Syracuse center Etan Thomas already had the respect of the Miami Hurricanes. Now he has it from their fans, as well.

All Thomas could do was laugh as a small group of Hurricanes fans left the Miami Arena on Saturday yelling, "Hey Thomas, come back and play for the Heat."

	Syracuse's Tony Bland goes up for an easy basket Saturday. Bland finished with nine points.

Thomas had 12 points and 11 rebounds as Syracuse (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) beat the Hurricanes 67-55 to win its first game away from home.

"It was kind of funny because those same people were trash talking me the whole game," said Thomas, who also blocked two shots, including one with about a minute remaining to seal the victory. "Then they turned it around. I guess I got their respect."

The Orangemen (11-0, 2-0 Big East) began the season with 10 consecutive home wins against overmatched opponents. They showed Saturday that their success in the Carrier Dome wasn't a fluke.

Four Syracuse starters scored in double figures. Damone Brown and Ryan Blackwell had 14 apiece and Jason Hart added 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Miami (8-6, 1-1), which trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, cut the lead to 60-55 with 1:31 to play. Mario Bland, who scored five points during the Hurricanes' 12-3 run that put them back in the game, got the ball in the lane but Thomas rejected his turnaround jumper.

Off the block, Brown fed Tony Bland at the other end for a layup. Bland was fouled and converted the three-point play to put the Orangemen up 63-55 with 47 seconds to play.

Syracuse, using a spread offense to take time off the clock, turned the ball over several times down the stretch.

"We really haven't had enough opportunity to work on that this year," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We've been ahead pretty comfortably in most games. We had enough margin that even with the mistakes -- and even if Etan doesn't make that block -- it still would have been tough for (Miami).

"It was a real good first half, and we just kind of hung on in the second."

Johnny Hemsley scored 14 points and Bland added 13 for Miami, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

The Orangemen dominated the first half, jumping out to a 11-1 lead and opening up a 17-point lead with a little less than four minutes to play in the first half. Thomas' presence in the middle intimidated the Hurricanes, who made just four of their first 24 shots.

Miami, which shot a season-low 31 percent from the field, was forced into many long-range jumpers and several quick shots.

"We anticipated they would be blocking shots and we were not taking the ball up as strong as we should have in the first half," Miami coach Leonard Hamilton said. "That was disappointing."

Hemsley said, "Thomas is one of the best shot-blockers in the league, so when you get in there you have to take that into consideration."

Trailing 36-21 at halftime, Miami used a 13-2 spurt early in the second half to trim Syracuse's lead to 38-34.

Hart, though, hit a momentum-stopping 3-pointer to start a run that put Syracuse in charge again. Hart added an alley-oop pass to Brown to give the Orangemen their biggest lead of the second half at 57-41.

"We've got three seniors who know how high the stakes are every night," Hart said. "We know what it takes to win."

Syracuse shot 61 percent in the first half and finished at 47 percent shooting for the game, their first of three straight away from home.

"This team has played on the road," Boeheim said. "They went 7-2 in the league on the road last year and we didn't change a guy from our first seven. There's no reason we shouldn't play well on the road."