Ithaca is Gorges, Fab Melo is Not; Part 1

Tonight, the Syracuse Orangemen take on the Cornell Big Red at le Dome. While Cornell hasn't beaten the Orangemen since 1968, this annual tradition has been a rocky road for the Cuse for the last decade or so. Cornell has put together some good teams, even reaching the Sweet 16 last year, but they've suffered serious attrition in talent and leadership in 2010.

I'm tempted to say this year would be different, and Syracuse would blow out the "rivals" from Ithaca that have lost to the likes of St. Bonaventure (at home), Lehigh and Boston University, but I'd be lying to myself if I thought anything would come easily to this team.

In last year's contest against Cornell Brandon Triche scored 21 points. A sequel to that scoring performance is light years from from the realm of possibility based on what we've seen (or haven't seen) from Triche so far. What has happened to Brandon? He obviously doesn't have the same supporting cast, but its not like he's being relied on the score every time up the floor. Hell, its not ever points I'm after! Any kind of contribution would be out of character for Triche so far this season.

This is what I'm wondering:

• Will Triche finally show up?
• Can Kris Joseph keep his streak of back-to-back good performances alive?
• Can we please get an easy one?
  

Check back after the game for the Cuse Connection's post game thoughts and answers to these questions.