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!!

SU's Surprising Battle with the Bonnies

       The Syracuse Orange (11-0) overcame a pesky St. Bonaventure (6-4) team Saturday night in front of 20,578 fans at the Carrier Dome, as this game was frought with injuries and ejections in what many believe to be the most exciting SU/Bonaventure game in years.  The Cuse once again won a much tighter game than what the end score showed, as the Orange won 85-72 due to some clutch 3 point shooting from their leaders in the back court, Brandon Triche and Andy Rautins.  The Bonnies front court fought it out with the SU big men in order to keep the game very competitive, however, the big difference in this one was the guard play.  Furthermore, SU's field goal percentage was stellar, as the Cuse made 56% of their shots, as opposed to the solid 46% out of Bonaventure.  This game was very tight throughout all of the first half, as St. Bonaventure even held a 35-32 lead with a few minutes remaining in the first half.
       The Bonnies proved they had what it takes to stay with the 5th ranked Orange, but as was the case for the UNC game, the Cuse used spurts and runs in order to push out their lead with the 3's they've grown to rely on.  The main run that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game was the 21-4 run that stretched into the 15 minute mark of the second half, as Brandon Triche rattled off a 3 to get the Cuse fans out of their seats and the Dome rumbling.   Nonetheless, St. Bonaventure closed to within nine points with just under 10 minutes remaining, Syracuse senior Andy Rautins drained back-to-back 3-pointers for a 69-54 lead.  However, that's when things were about to get very interesting for Rautins at right around the 8 minute mark in the game.  At that point, SU led 71-59. The Bonnies were on offense and as center Andrew Nicholson trotted through the lane, he delivered what Rautins described as a low blow to his groin area.  Rautins immediately dropped to the floor and crouched in the fetal position, he then pointed toward Nicholson and yelled to the officials for confirmation of the ridiculous move by Nicholson. Officials stopped play to get together at the scorer’s table and watched what happened on the televised replay.  Moments later, Nicholson was ejected without any doubt in mind.

Andy Rautins had this to say about the incident, “I wasn’t going to let something like that slide. I was in pain. I felt nauseous for the rest of the game. Especially something unprovoked like that. There’s just no excuse for that.”

   Nicholson knew what he did was wrong and worthy of an ejection, as he galloped down the tunnel that led to the St. Bonaventure locker room.  It was clear the Bonnies were a bit frustrated with they way they had allowed SU to push out their lead, and it's possible that Nicholson's move was a measure of showing his physicality and presence to the SU team.  Nonetheless, Nicholson's move appeared to re-ignite the Orange as they closed out the game with their stingy defense that has been their staple all season long.  More importantly, SU led 71-57 at the point of the flagrant foul, as Nicholson had played 32 minutes and had contributed 18 points on a spectacular 9-of-10 shooting.  The Bonnies needed their leader down low, and with no Nicholson their efforts at getting back into shooting range of the Orange were over. 
        It was another very entertaining game in the Carrier Dome, and one that I'm sure SU has learned much about their team from, as they played well to overcome the runs of the Bonnies and Boeheim utilized different rotations with Arinze Onuaku out for most of the game due to a "minor" bruise to his knee.  From the sounds of it, Onuaku will be ready to play for the next game, however, it may be better off for the Cuse to rest him and make sure he's 100% for when the Big East starts in January.  Go CUSE!!!