NCAA Tourney Begins - Herb Pope Blast to Midsection - Onuaku Out - Tiger Woods to play in The Masters

Big East Tourney - Thursday Surprises??

UPDATES:

Notre Dame upsets Pittsburgh:  50 to 45

Georgetown upsets Syracuse: 91 to 84

Marquette upsets Villanova: 80 to 76

Prediction:

Cincinnati will lose to West Virginia: 62 to 54

The Orange Punish the Red Storm on Senior Night (Video)

Next Up:  SU at Louisville Saturday at 2pm

Syracuse Blasts Villanova out of the Dome (Video Blog)

Syracuse to become new Number 1 team in the country on Monday due to the upsets against Kentucky and Kansas today.
            
7 Villanova 36 41Total = 77


4 Syracuse 46 49 Total = 95


UP NEXT: Senior Night at the Dome against St. Johns Tuesday at 7pm

Syracuse Pulls Out a Nail-Biter Against UConn

      With 24,847 people shaking in their boots in the Carrier Dome, the now No.2 Syracuse University Orange improved to a school best (24-1) overall, as they barely escaped with a win against conference rival UConn 72 to 67.  Syracuse leap frogged the Kentucky Wildcats to move to No.2 in the country in the AP Poll, however, they continue to be No.3 in the Coaches Poll.  Overall, SU played like the No.2 ranked team in the country for most of the game, but couldn't put the finishing touches on the Huskies when they needed to in order to blow out UConn.  However, SU did respond positively when it counted most in order to shoot an incredible 82% from the line to clinch the victory in the closing seconds of this Big East Battle.

        This game was much tighter than what it should have been, as The Cuse squandered a 16 point lead in the second half, as their defensive intensity waivered to allow Uconn Guards Jerome Dyson and Kimba Walker to slice into the Cuse 2-3 zone and create solid scoring opportunities for themselves and others.  Walker's not known for his shooting ability, yet made 3 teardrop shots with under 8 minutes left in the game to keep the Huskies cutting into the SU lead.  Walker ended up with 14 points on the day, while Dyson added 19 points.  Dyson went 0 for his first 4 from downtown, but then hit two huge three pointers with under 4 minutes left in the game.

       With under a minute left in the game, Uconn and The Orange were tied at 65 to 65.  UConn had the ball and was looking to take the lead.....Kimba Walker brought the ball down the floor and to no one's surprise, Jerome Dyson pulled the trigger on a 3 pointer that would have put some serious pressure on Syracuse to do the same.  For the Cuse faithful, luckily Dyson was slightly off on his shot, as Kris Joseph got the rebound.  After a timeout, Syracuse Guard Andy Rautins rushed and missed a contested 3 off an inbounds pass, but Syracuse Center Rick Jackson rebounded to give SU the ball back.  However, at that moment Scoop Jardine drove to the bucket, unsure of what to do, and missed a layup that was blocked.  Somehow, Orange coach Jim Boeheim called a timeout with 36.6 seconds left and 32 on the shot clock, which apparently was before Jardine's bad attempt at a layup.  Overall, with SU regaining the ball it put them in the drivers seat to scrape out a victory, Johnson was fouled by Robinson as soon as play resumed and sank both free throws to give Syracuse a 67-65 lead with 30.4 seconds left.  Kris Joseph then followed with two more free throws with 11.5 seconds to go to make it a two possession game. Walker hit a layup to cut the lead back to a basket, but Joseph sealed it with two more free throws after he was intentionally fouled by Majok on a breakaway with 5.8 seconds left. 

**Analysis:

Solid win for the Cuse, but definitely showed that they're vulnerable to strong guard play from up top and around the foul line area.  Too many holes were exposed late, The Cuse weren't pumped up to play tonight.  They were expecting to win, but didn't want to put the nail in the coffin.  Nothing's easy in the Big East and that was proven tonight.

STATS:

Connecticut

Player Position **(Minutes- Points)

S Robinson F 36 -16

A Majok F 11 - 2

A Oriakhi C 13 - 0

K Walker G 38 - 14

J Dyson G 34 - 19

G Edwards 37 - 12

C Okwandu 19 - 2

J Coombs-McDaniel 8 - 2

Total = 67


Syracuse

Player Position **(Minutes - Points)

W Johnson F 40 - 13

R Jackson F 28 - 15

A Onuaku C 21 - 7

A Rautins G 33 - 8

B Triche G 26 - 8

K Joseph 31 - 14

S Jardine 21 - 7

Total = 72

 

The Cuse Roll to Victory over South Florida

      In front of 18,703 fans at the Carrier Dome Sunday, the Syracuse Orange(15-1) once again showed why they're a top 10 team in the country as they beat the South Florida Bulls(10-5) 82 to 65.  This was SU's third Big East game so far, as they improved to 2-1 in Big East play.  The Cuse were in control throughout the entire game, as the inside game for SU was simply too strong for the undersized and undermanned Bulls.  Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson each put up big numbers on offense, as Onuaku threw down 12 points while Jackson's left hand was responsible for 15 hard earned SU points.  SU's major presence down low also led to further offensive opportunities due to offensive rebounds, as Wesley Johnson took advantage to once again put together a huge game for the Orange.  Johnson ended up with 19 points in 37 minutes of play, as it's become clear that as Johnson goes so does the Orange. 
      The lone bright spot for the South Florida Bulls was Dominique Jones, as he was the only South Florida player that could stay with the Cuse.  Jones put up 30 points in 38 minutes, was 3 of 6 from long range, and even was 13 of 17 from the charity strike....are you kidding me?  How about a box and 1 coach?  It didn't make a difference with the overall outcome, but Jones play showed that SU's defense can get broken down to quick passing in the middle and is susceptible to players like Jones that can pierce the lane with a jump stop dribble or a quick drive to the bucket. 

      Brandon Triche also played a more balanced game in this one, as he was 5 of 10 from the field and had 10 points.  Triche's aggressive play led to better opportunities for The Cuse on offense, and further exposed the holes in the Bulls defense, however, Triche went 0 for 3 for behind the arc and also missed all three of his free throws.  Assists also played a role in this one, as Andy Rautins showed how he's become a great passer with phenomenal vision with his 7 assists today.  The Orange were simply too strong, quick, and large for the South Florida Bulls at home today, but it will be interesting to see how The Cuse play on the road over their next three games against Rutgers, West Virginia, and Notre Dame.

**Enjoy the video on Wesley Johnson, hopefully they'll be many more highlights in the remaining games this year.

The Orange Get Their Groove Back

     The No.7 Syracuse Orange(14-1) once again put together a huge second half to beat the Memphis Tigers(10-4) 74 to 57.  However, the first half was extremely tight, as Memphis guard Roburt Sallie lit it up from downtown hitting 4 of 4.  The Cuse also struggled with turnovers in the first half, as Memphis turned those lose balls into a 6 point lead at one point.  Nonetheless, the turning point in the game was the CLUTCH three pointer by SU guard Andy Rautins to tie up the game 32-32 at the very end of the first half.  The crowd went wild and finally was what the Orange needed to get momentum going into the second half.
      The second half was dominated by The Cuse, as Wesley Johnson put the team on his shoulders for a team high 19 points.  His leadership brought SU out of the funk that had allowed SU to lose to Pitt and only play to a tie in the first half to a bunch of backups at Memphis.  Memphis has been solid this year, however, they lost a lot of pro talent over the last couple years.  Therefore, with Johnson leading the way, other SU players picked up the slack and took control, as Kris Joseph showed why many are really getting pumped with the way he's playing tough this year.  Joseph handles the ball much better than he did last year and is very long on defense.  Joseph's scoring has also picked up considerably, as he put up 15 points off the bench tonight.  Most importantly, the balanced scoring attack of The Cuse once again showed it's presence, as 5 Cuse players scored in double digits. 

      Furthermore, the Syracuse defense picked up and was swarming for the ball, as Arinze Onuaku and company were aggressive and rebounded much better than what we saw last against Pittsburgh.  The one thing I'm definitely looking for going forward is a little more from Brandon Triche, as I didn't notice him at all this game.  Either way, it was a great second half for SU tonight as they outscored the Tigers by 17 to add yet another solid out of conference win this year.   Go Cuse, big W!!

The Cuse Get Rocked in the Carrier Dome

     The 5th ranked Syracuse University Men's Basketball team (13-1) lost their first game of the season, as the Pittsburgh Panthers (12-2) came into the Carrier Dome and controlled the game in the second half to beat the Orange 82-72.  Overall, The Cuse played much better in the first half than they did in the second half, however, they were only able to hold a 30-27 lead at the break even after leading by 10 at one point.  The game was very much back and forth throughout the first half, as every SU run was followed by a Panthers bucket to quiet the crowd.  Foul trouble was a big problem for the Orange in this one, as the Carrier Dome fans were kept silent throughout much of the second half as Wesley Johnson had 4 fouls, while Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson both fouled out.  The foul trouble also fed over to diminish the always consistent scoring attack of the Orange, as the only SU starter in double figures was Wesley Johnson with 19 points.  The one lone bright spot for the Cuse was the bench play, as Scoop Jardine put up 15 points and Kris Joseph added 10, as both players played a lot of minutes in this one.
      This season SU has relied on three point shooting from Rautins, Triche, and Johnson, to put together huge runs and emotionally demoralize their opponents on the offensive end.  Clutch shooting had led SU to be the top scoring team in the Big East at over 86 points per game.  However, The Cuse couldn't hit anything is this one, as the Orange were just 1 for 13 from behind the arc.  Most importantly, towards the end of the game, SU was down 15 points with only minutes remaining in the game, nonetheless, even with Andy Rautins not being in foul trouble, Rautins was sitting on the bench.  What's the deal with that Boeheim?? Therefore, it was up to players with very limited experience in a tough fought Big East battle with conference rival Pitt to try and get the job done with leaders such as Arinze Onuaku and Andy Rautins riding pine.  Any SU fan was desperately hoping for an SU comeback, however, between the lack of SU three pointers and the absolutely no "support" from the referrees, the game seemed to be over with even 3 minutes remaining.
       Hat's off to the Panthers today, as they played very well and deserved the win against SU.  Another point of note was the guard play from the Panthers which was stellar and totally outplayed the Orange, as Ashton Gibbs went 6 of 9 from downtown to put up 24 points, while Jermaine Dixon tossed up 21.  The three point shooting from Pitt was the difference in this one, as the Panthers went 10 of 24, to shoot a solid 41% from out deep.  Furthermore, the physical play of the Panthers was something SU had not seen as much of with their non-conference play earlier on this year.  It's clear SU has had two very tough Big East games already this year to the likes of Seton Hall and Pittsburgh, so it'll be interesting to see how SU bounces back in their next game versus another physical and very fast team in Memphis on January 6th.  

THE CUSE Remains Perfect with 75-51 Victory Against St. Francis

   SU fans must be happy they saw no let down by THE CUSE today against St. Francis.  After a much tighter game Thursday against the Florida Gators, this afternoon SU proved they truly have a balanced scoring attack and were able to dominate down low.  Today, Senior Center Arinze Onuaku showed his presence in the paint with clutch shots and a fabulous left hand as he put up 14 points on 70% shooting from the floor....that a baby Arinze!  Syracuse is now 10-0 on the season for the first time since the 1999-2000 season in which they started 19-0.  You truely never know which guy is going to lead the team in scoring, as 8 players can each put up double digits if called upon to do so.  Against St. Francis, Junior forward Rick Jackson had 11 points and hauled down six rebounds.  Junior forward Wes Johnson put up 12 points with nine boards while also logging three steals, 2 assists and a game-best four blocked shots....wow, this guy gets up in the air.  Redshirt freshman Mookie Jones was the last double digit scorer with 10, as he made 3 trifectas in the game today.  I was a bit surprised to see Mookie put up the numbers he did, but he looked great doing it. 
         At this point in the season I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the high level of point guard play out of Scoooooop Jardine.  He's consistenly played and handled the ball well and it's definitely evident that the team and coaches are expecting great things from Jardine on the court each game.  I never thought of Jardine as much of a scorer, but he's even been able to do that this year, as he's averaging 8.9 points.  He's an impact player that's been a big jolt for The Cuse so far this year.  Jardine's known as a solid passer and today was no different as he dished out a game high 9 assists.  Coach Boeheim had this to say after the game about the team chemistry and particularly the team passing: 

      "We played well together. We had 24 assists again tonight -- everyone has been very unselfish, looking for each other. We work hard and we are getting better, we just have to keep improving. We played just the first part of the season and we have a long way to go. The bottom line is we have to get better."

It was a positive effort all around today as St. Francis didn't pose much of a threat against SU's size and superior skills.  The one thing I do want to see going forward, however, is for SU to get the number of turnovers down, as they had 16 on the game today.  I'm sure everyone else is greatly looking forward to SU's upcoming BIG EAST schedule, but for the time being we're all happy with SU's out of conference W's that keep wracking up.  Go Cuse, keep the train rollin'....