Syracuse Basketball: We're Back Online

I have to apologize for the lack of updates from The Cuse Connection the past week or so. Haven't had the time necessary to dedicate to covering the Syracuse Orangemen but I'm ready to get back into the thick of things. Time to dust off the cobwebs and get back to work.

During my absence, the Syracuse Orangemen have split two games and seen quite the display from head coach Jim Boeheim during the post game news conference of the victory over West Virginia on Valentines Day.

The loss came on a Saturday afternoon at 12 o'clock in the KFC Yum Center, a 73-69 defeat at the hands of Rick Pitino's Louisville Cardinals. Syracuse had a few things going against them on this day. For starters, the Orangemen always come out FLAT during noon tip offs. I don't know what it is, maybe the team doesn't go to bed early enough. Whatever the reason, Syracuse is always sluggish for the 12PM tip. Couple that with Rick Pitino's recent success against Jim Boeheim (although to be fair Jim used to own Rick Pitino) and Louisville's unbelievable efficient 3-point shooting barrage and you had the recipe for disaster.

Syracuse was holding their own on the road in Louisville, entertaining a 3 point lead at the under 4 minute official time out in the first half (26-23). Then the Cardinals started raining three pointers. Preston Knowles, Kyle Kuric, Preston Knowles, Kyle Kuric. It felt like a horror film. When the dust settled Louisville was up 40-30 at the break.

The three pointers continued to fall for Louisville as they opened up a 57-37 2nd half lead with 15:30 to go in the ball game. That's when Brandon Triche decided enough was enough. The defense started clamping down for the Cuse and Triche started nailing some 3-pointers of his own to narrow the deficit. Even Scoop Jardine knocked down a 3-point shot. By the time the under 4 time out came in the 2nd half, the Louisville Cardinals were clinging to a 5 point lead.

Unfortunately for Syracuse they didn't have enough in the tank and the game wasn't a few minutes longer, and the Orangemen dropped yet another Big East game to Rick Pitino. Final score Syracuse 69 Louisville 73. Brandon Triche lead the Orangemen with 21 points and Scoop Jardine finally showed some signs of life, finishing with 20 points on 8 of 15 shooting, 4 of 8 from 3-point range. C.J. Fair also put together a solid game, playing 33 minutes and finishing with 11 points and 7 rebounds on 4 of 6 shooting. Fair also made 2 steals.

A couple days later and Syracuse was right back out on the floor, this time at home for a Valentines Day showdown against the West Virginia Mountaineers. Once again, it was Brandon Triche who lead the way for the Orangemen, establishing himself as the most consistent scoring threat and shooter for the Cuse.

Triche finished with 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting and C.J. Fair added 8 points and 5 rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Kris Joseph also contributed 16 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the floor.

The most interesting storyline developing for the Orangemen was the lack of Fab Melo on the floor. Not the usual, "Oh Fab only played 3 minutes tonight." Fab did not start and did not make an appearance in either the Louisville nor the WVU game. Coach Boeheim said Fab Melo missed practice without letting the coaching staff know, and was done playing for now. Melo said he was dealing with some family issues back home in his native Brazil. Either way we are all waiting to see how this plays out.

Back to the game, Syracuse controlled much of the action, however Casey Mitchell kept the Mountaineers in the game shooting an unbelievable 7 of 12 from behind the three point line. Mitchell had a game high 23 points, and every time Syracuse started to make a run and pull away, Casey Mitchell was right there answering back with a 3-pointer and keeping his team in the game.

In the end, Brandon Triche and C.J. Fair were able to keep pacing the Orangemen offense and Syracuse held on for a big 63-52 Big East victory over the Mountaineers to improve their record to 21-6 overall, 8-6 in the Big East.

Coming up next for the Orangemen, who are now ranked #17 in the AP Top 25 and #20 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll, is Rutgers on Saturday afternoon at 4PM in the Carrier Dome, followed by a trip to Philadelphia to take on the Villanova Wildcats. Two very big games for the Cuse.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Aaaaand We're Back!

Heading into last night's Big East showdown against the #6/#7 UCONN Huskies Jim Boeheim had never lost 5 straight games as head coach of the Syracuse Orangemen. Thankfully, he still hasn't. Syracuse went into Connecticut and walked out with a much needed 66-58 victory. The Orangemen hadn't won on the road against UCONN since the 1999 season.

Syracuse managed to overcome not scoring a single point in the game's opening 5:31 and managed to take their first halftime lead since January 15th against Cinci when Rick Jackson slipped home a shifty hook shot as time expired on the opening frame, giving SU a 26-25 halftime lead.

In the first half Syracuse's defense of Huskie star Kemba Walker was amazing. Walker was held to just 5 points in the first half. Syracuse had allowed opposing teams to score 40+ points in the first half three straight games heading into last night's contest, however UCONN scored just 25 points in the 1st half. Walker finished the game with a season low 8 points, a job well done by the Orangemen's guards at the top of the 2-3 zone.

Coming out of the halftime intermission, it appeared to be the Brandon Triche show. Triche scored the first 7 points for Syracuse in the first 2:17 out of the gate, and helped push Syracuse's lead to 33-27. As Connecticut mounted a valiant comeback, cutting Syracuse's lead which had ballooned to as many as 9 points down to a mere 1 point with 4:56 left to play, Brandon Triche swished a 3-point jumper from the corner to put the Orangemen back up 4 points and provide a much needed cushion against the #6/#7 team in the nation as Syracuse held on for the win.

Baye Moussa Keita played by far his best game in his very young Orangeman career. Despite fouling out (on an absolutely brutal call late in the game) Keita pulled down 11 rebounds, made a season high 6 steals, scored 4 points and added 2 blocks while playing a season high 27 minutes for the Cuse. Keita was changing shots in the lane, using his long arms to swat pass attempts into the center of the zone, and playing like a man possessed to help Syracuse knock off one of the best teams in the nation and putting an end to the Orangemen's 4 game losing streak.

At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Fab Melo played a mere 3 minutes and his only statistical achievement in the game was his 1 personal foul.

Rick Jackson recorded his 15th double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and pulling down 13 rebounds to lead the Orangemen. Kris Joseph began the game extremely off, however managed to make a few big plays down the stretch. Joseph, the Orangemen's leading scorer on the season, finished 3 of 11 from the floor for 11 points.

Once again Scoop Jardine's shooting woes continued to mount, as he shot 2 of 11 from the field, however Scoop made his foul shots in the final minutes of the game and grabbed a key rebound as the game clock wound down.

Brandon Triche lead Syracuse in scoring with 16 points, while shooting 2 of 7 from 3-point range. He made his shots when it counted though.

Up next for the Orangemen are the USF Bulls on Saturday at 2PM in Tampa, Fl. The game will be televised live on the home of the Big East Network, SNY. With eight games remaining on the Syracuse schedule, there's plenty of hard work left to do.

After a trip down to Tampa, Syracuse will play Georgetown, Louisville, and West Virginia, with the Louisville match up being played on the road. Syracuse (19-4, 6-4 Big East) can not afford to have a let down against the Bulls, as the schedule will not be easing up for the Cuse any time soon.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Undefeated Syracuse Orangemen Host Cincinnati

Coming off a rousing 76-59 victory over the Red Storm of St. Johns, the #4 Syracuse Orangemen will host the Cincinnati Bearcats in the Carrier Dome Saturday for a 12:00PM tip-off. The Bearcats, ranked 25th in the AP Top-25, come to Syracuse after knocking of the USF Bulls 74-66 and are 16-1 on the year, 3-1 in the Big East.

Cincinnati's lone loss came January 9th when the Bearcats traveled to Philadelphia, PA to take on the #7 Villanova Wildcats. Nova beat Cinci 72-61 on that fateful day. Cincinnati also has a very balanced and deep bench which boasts a 9 man rotation.

Leading the Bearcats in scoring is Dion Dixon (6'3" 195 pounds) who is averaging 12.5 points per game and shoots 31.1% from beyond the arc. While Dixon isn't much of a rebounding threat, he has averaged 7 rebounds per game in his last 3 outings and had a season high 23 points on December 21st at Miami of Ohio.

Local kid Yancy Gates (6'9" 260 pounds) out of Cincinnati, OH is the second leading scorer on the team, averaging 11.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Gates shoots 50.3% from the field and scored a season high 22 points against Xavier on January 6th while pulling down 14 rebounds (also a season high).

Freshman guard Sean Kilpatrick (6'4" 215 pounds) is a serious scoring threat and spark off the bench for Cinci. Although he averages just 10 points per game, he shoots 41.5% from 3-point range. Kilpatrick was 4 of 5 from three in the last game against USF en route to a 18 point night, twelve of which came in the first half. He also posted a season high 26 points on December 1st against Wright State while going 5 for 5 from beyond the arc.

Leading the 17-0 (4-0 Big East) Syracuse Orangemen has been Rick Jackson, Scoop Jardine, Kris Joseph and Brandon Triche. All four players are averaging in double digits this season, and Rick Jackson is also averaging 11.8 rebounds per game to lead the Cuse.

Kris Joseph is averaging 18.4 points in his last 7 games and has been piling up the rebounds in that same time period. Brandon Triche is coming off back-to-back strong shooting efforts and 15 point games while the Philadelphia Connection has been pacing the Cuse.

Rick Jackson has averaged 10.5 points and 11.5 rebounds during Big East play while his Scoop Jardine has averaged 16.6 points in his last 5 games. All four players have picked up their games another notch since Big East play began, and Rick Jackson has been playing an increased role at the center position.

With Rick Jackson playing increasingly more minutes at center, that means that Fab Melo and Baye Moussa Keita have been playing sparingly. While Keita was able to hold his own defensively during the non-conference portion of Syracuse's schedule, his defensive shortcomings have been exposed in the Big East.

With #5 Pittsburgh lurking in the shadows of Big Monday, it's very important for Syracuse to not get caught looking past the Bearcats. The Orangemen must have the same sense of urgency they have shown all season on defense, and not let the Bearcats get hot from the floor. Cincinnati is 16-1, they are no pushover, and in an extremely tough Big East, every game will be a dog fight.

The game will be televised live on the Big East Network, SNY, and tip-off is at 12:00PM from the Carrier Dome. Be sure to check back in with The Cuse Connection following the game for recap and analysis.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Orangemen Cruise to NYC Victory over St. Johns

The Syracuse Orangemen did what they do best last night: play tough defense and win at Madison Square Garden. St. Johns (10-5, 3-2), in the midst of their best start in 11 years, was no match for the #4 Syracuse Orangemen as they cruised to a 76-59 victory in front of 14,440. The win pushes Syracuse to a perfect 17-0 record (4-0 Big East), the second best start in school history. Furthermore, it was win number 1,800 in program history.

The Red Storm jumped out to an early 15-7 lead on Syracuse with 9:02 left in the first half. Many Syracuse fans were concerned it was going to be another game like the Seton Hall game, when the shots just wouldn't fall. Would Syracuse need to lean on their defense to pull out a victory?

Not so much. The Orangemen responded with an 18-3 run to take them to a 25-18 lead with under four minutes to play in the first half. Syracuse got balanced scoring during the run from Rick Jackson, Kris Joseph, Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche. It was the kind of balanced scoring attack you love seeing from the Cuse.

The defense kept protecting the hoop and Syracuse was able to muscle their way to a 35-24 lead at the break. The Orangemen closed out the half on a 10-6 run to put a little breathing room between themselves and the Johnnies.

The second half was all Syracuse, as they pushed their lead to as many as 22 points inside Madison Square Garden. Rick Jackson picked up his 10th double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and adding 10 rebounds for the #4 ranked Orangemen. Jackson was a perfect 6 of 6 from the field, along with 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

Kris Joseph continued his hot play of late, leading all scorers with 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the floor, and had five rebounds. Brandon Triche had his second straight 15 point game for the Cuse, and was 3 of 6 from behind the arc.

C.J. Fair showed no ill effects from his ankle injury, playing 20 minutes (the most since missing 3 games with the injury). He was just 1 of 5 from the floor and finished with 2 points and 3 rebounds, but it's good to have him back to full health as he provides great rebounding potential and energy off the bench.

Scoop Jardine picked up 14 points, however committed 7 turnovers to lead the Cuse in that category. After the disastrous free throw shooting in Newark, NJ on Saturday afternoon, Syracuse was a much improved 5 of 8 from the stripe.

The Orangemen next take the court on Saturday January 15th when they host the #25 Cincinnati Bearcats (16-1, 3-1 Big East) in the Carrier Dome at 12:00PM. The game will be broadcast live on The Big East Network, SNY.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Orangemen Returning to Madison Square Garden to face St. Johns

Now that the snow has stopped falling in New York City, we can focus our attention on the Big East Conference showdown between the Syracuse Orangemen and the St. Johns Red Storm. At this moment, it's very difficult to determine if it's a "road" game for the Orangemen, or a "home" game. At the very least, the good folks over at ESPN can call it a "neutral" court game without losing much sleep.

For the 114th time in Jim Boeheim's career, he will lead his team out into a sea of Orange at Madison Square Garden. While Syracuse fans are used to dominating the scene inside the Garden, they will meet a rejuvenated St. Johns basketball program, led by new head coach Steve Lavin.

Steve Lavin, who joins the Red Storm after working the broadcast booth since 2003, coached the UCLA Bruins from 1996-2003. He guided the Bruins to an overall 145-78 record in seven seasons and has St. Johns off to a 10-4 overall record, 3-1 in Big East play.

The Red Storm are coming off a 76-61 loss at #15 Notre Dame on Saturday. Five days prior St. Johns knocked off the #13 team in the nation at that time, the Georgetown Hoyas 61-58 at the Garden, the team's biggest win of the season. St. Johns has also won on the road in West Virginia (81-71) and at Providence (67-65).

Leading the charge for St. Johns is Dwight Hardy (6'2" 182 pounds) out of the Bronx. Hardy is averaging 16 points per game. After a somewhat slow start to the season, Dwight Hardy has scored over 20 points six out of his last eight games. Additionally, he had a season high 30 points in a loss at Fordham University on December 11th. He is also shooting 27.3% from 3-point range this season.

Justin Brownlee (6'7" 225 pounds) out of Tifton, GA has been coming up big for Red Storm of late as well. Averaging 14.6 points per game this season, Brownlee has averaged nearly 17 points in his past 5 games and almost 7 rebounds during that same span.

D.J. Kennedy (6'6" 213 pounds) from Pittsburgh, PA has been averaging 11.6 points per game and shooting 34.8% from behind the arc. Kennedy's offensive production has gone way down since Big East play has started, and has averaged just 7.6 points per game in his last 3 contests. In the win against West Virginia on the road, Kennedy had 17 points and 11 rebounds along with 6 assists.

Syracuse is coming off a very quiet offensive game against Seton Hall on January 8th. The Orangemen shot just 44.2% from the field on that day and were an abysmal 17 of 36 from the foul line. Syracuse also turned the ball over more than the Pirates and two Pirates (Pope and Robinson) out rebounded the entire Syracuse squad.

The lone bright spot for the Cuse was Brandon Triche's 6 minute shooting clinic in the second half that gave Syracuse the cushion they needed to hold on for the victory. Triche finished with 15 points on 4 of 5 shooting from 3-point range.

The Orangemen held onto their #4 ranking in the nation in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls this week. Syracuse is 16-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Big East. Syracuse has won 9 of their last 10 games against St. Johns, however this St. Johns team features ten experienced seniors and already has a win against a Top-25 Big East team under their belt. The Johnnies are currently sitting in 5th place in the conference.

Be sure to follow @CuseConnection on twitter, as we will be tweeting pictures and emotions live from the Garden throughout the game. As usual, check back with The Cuse Connection following the game for complete recap and analysis.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Syracuse Overcomes Terrible Shooting to Knock Off Seton Hall 61-56

It was an ugly day inside the Prudential Center in lovely Newark, NJ. Jump shooting, foul shots and ball control were three important aspects of the game that were lost on the Orangemen. Thankfully for undefeated Syracuse, Seton Hall was even worse.

Seton Hall missed all 17 3-point shots they attempted in the 1st half. In a first half where Syracuse's defense held the Pirates to just 19 points, Orangemen fans everywhere were left in absolute disbelief about what had just transpired on the court. The Orangemen scored just 3 points in the final 5 minutes and change of the first half.

Twenty points. Twenty minutes. That was what the #4 ranked Orangemen put up on the then 7-8 Seton Hall Pirates in the opening half. Brandon Triche said it best after the game, "I'm sure it wasn't a great game for the fans." No Brandon, it wasn't.

Thankfully for Cuse fans Triche exploded in a six-minute span in the second half. About 2 minutes into the second stanza with the score tied 22-22, Brandon Triche put on an absolute clinic for the 10,862 fans in attendance, many of them rocking the orange and blue.

BTriche got things started with a 3-point basket, his first points of the game. Triche then grabbed a steal and dropped in a layup. Over the next four minutes and change Triche swished three more 3-point field goals and pushed the Orangemen to their biggest lead of the game in the process.

When Brandon's 3-point shooting clinic was over (which included a 4-point play) Syracuse was up 42-33 with 11:43 left to play. Triche finished the matinee with 15 points (which tied him for the team high), on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor, 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

If Syracuse had any luck from the charity stripe, the game never would have been so close at the final buzzer. As a team Syracuse shot 17 of 36 from the foul line (47.2%). Seton Hall only got to the foul line 13 times and made 11 of their attempts (84.6%).

Kris Joseph, who also scored 15 points to lead the Orangemen, was the biggest culprit of the day. KrisJo was a miserable 8 of 17 from the foul line. Joseph also grabbed 8 rebounds.

Speaking of rebounds, as a team, the Cuse were out-rebounded by Herb Pope and Jeff Robinson. The Orangemen had 32 rebounds. Pope had 20 boards and Robinson had 14 off the glass. Rick Jackson had 14 rebounds so we can not fault him, but out side of Joseph and Jackson Syracuse's next highest rebounder was Baye Moussa Keita, who had just 3.

Keita fouled out in 14 minutes with 2 points (2 of 4 from the foul line) and all his rebounds came on the offensive glass. His freshman center counter-part Fab Melo gave Syracuse their first two points of the ball game in the opening seconds, and did not score again the rest of the way. Melo finished with 11 minutes 2 points 1 rebound and 2 turnovers.

Outside of Syracuse's offensive problems on the floor, the Orangemen fans gathered inside the Prudential Center were a little disappointing. It was an early start (12:00) and the game was fairly boring, however I felt as if the fans inside "the rock" could have done a little more. Particularly those fans in sections 1-4 behind the hoop on the floor.

The amount of Orange in those sections compared to the amount of noise coming from them was at a level that is unacceptable in Cuse nation. If you were sitting in those sections, I'm not saying you didn't cheer. However, you could have done more to encourage those around you to stand up and be heard.

You made the trip to Newark, NJ. Many of you probably woke up early to do it. Why just sit there? Cheer! Stand up! There was a lot of sitting down and not enough "let's go orange" coming from that area of the building for my liking. Let's try and work on that for next time.

Good news for those fans and the poor shooting Orangemen. They will get a chance to redeem themselves on Wednesday, when the Orangemen travel to Madison Square Garden to take on a surprise team in the Big East, St. Johns, at 7:00PM.

More good news: none of us have to watch that game again. Burn the tape. Syracuse got the win, and remain undefeated. That's all that matters. The Orangemen improve to 16-0 on the season and 3-0 in Big East play. With the loss, Seton Hall falls to 7-9 on the year 1-3 in conference play.

Syracuse and Morgan State Scheduled for Tonight at 7PM

Coming off the 83-77 victory over Iona on Saturday night, Syracuse (11-0) will host the Morgan State Bears (4-4) for their second game in three nights in the Carrier Dome. Morgan State comes to Syracuse out of the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference, where they are 1-0 in conference play. Back on November 18th the Bears lost on the road to Big East Conference member Providence 77-55.

There has been some recent success on the hardwood at Morgan State College, which is located in Baltimore, Maryland. The past two seasons the Bears won the MEAC regular season and tournament championships, earning them an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament. They would go on to lose to the Oklahoma Sooners in 2009 and the West Virginia Mountaineers in 2010 both in the 1st round, playing in each tournament as the #15 seed.

Morgan State College is also known for having the 11th worst graduation rate among colleges in the country. They boast a very unimpressive 32% graduation rate and nearly 15% of the school's undergrad's transfer to other colleges.

The leading scorer for Morgan State is Dewayne Jackson (6'8" 210 pounds) a sophomore out of Bowie, MD. Jackson averages 15.4 points per game along with 4.6 rebounds and shoots 39.5% from the field. After shooting 41.9% from 3-point range last season, he is off to just 22.2% shooting from beyond the arc this season. Kevin Thompson (6'9" 240 pounds) is a junior out of Baltimore, MD who is averaging 14 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Thompson scored 25 points against La Salle back on November 20th, and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Providence on November 18th. He has 5 double-doubles in 8 games this season.

Morgan State isn't a very impressive shooting team, their 40.9% from the floor ranks 272nd in the country and they shoot a measly 29.5% from 3-point range as a team. However, they are an adequate rebounding team, averaging 38.3 boards per contest.

Syracuse appears to be without freshman forward C.J. Fair, who was held out of practice yesterday after spraining his ankle in the first half of the game Saturday night against Iona. Jim Boeheim did not offer encouraging words for Fair's availability tonight, which means that James Southerland will probably see a few increased minutes off the bench. C.J. Fair has played in every game this season, averaging 5.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.8 minutes of action per game.

Brandon Triche has been on a terrific offensive run the past two games, and will look to continue that hot play tonight. In the last two games Triche is averaging 14 points and has shot 66.7% from the floor overall. He's 4 of 8 (50%) from 3-pt range in that same time period and had 7 assists against Iona Saturday night, which was a season high.

No word yet on Fab Melo's availability, however he did participate in workouts yesterday and said after practice that he was feeling good. The game is scheduled for 7:00PM and will be broadcast live on SNY, the Big East Network.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Syracuse Hands Colgate Worst Loss in Series History

Syracuse and Colgate have played on the hardwood since the 1901/02 season. Never before have they been beaten like this. In fact, never before in the Dome has a visiting team been held to such few points in the first half. However, that's what happened on Saturday night in front of 21,247 Orangemen basketball fans.

Syracuse held Colgate to just EIGHT first half points en route to a 100-43 victory to push the Orangemen's record to 10-0. The loss drops Colgate to 0-8 on the year. Every member of the SU basketball team registered minutes in this one, and Rick Jackson lead the offense with 18 points and added another 10 rebounds for his 8th double-double in ten games this season.

Freshman Dion Waiters scored 17 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor and dished out 5 assists. Brandon Triche had his best shooting performance of this young season adding another 14 points for the Orangemen on 5 of 7 shooting (3 of 5 from beyond the arc).

It was Syracuse's best shooting game from behind the 3-point line this season. Six different players knocked down 3-pointers, and the Orangemen shot 11-25 from long range (44%). On the night Syracuse was 37-66 from the floor (56.1%) and held Colgate to just 10 of 56 shot attempts (an unreal 17.9%).

Mookie Jones played 17 minutes in this one, going 3 of 8 from the floor (including 3 of 6 from long range). He also had 1 rebound and 1 block to go along with 2 assists. James Southerland chipped in 22 minutes for the Orangemen, scoring 7 points on 3 of 6 shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds on the defensive glass.

This game was over early, and gave Syracuse a chance to let their freshman and walk-ons get some minutes under their belts. Unfortunately, Fab Melo was only able to play 6 minutes and left the game early due to an aching Achilles tendon that has been nagging him for quite a while.

Fab Melo and the rest of the Orangemen are off until Saturday December 18th when they square off against the Iona Gaels (7-3) in the Carrier Dome at 7PM.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Ithaca is Gorges, Fab Melo is Mildly Attractive

Yes, Syracuse Basketball finally got an easy one on Tuesday against Cornell, dominating the first half and cruising through the second to take the game 78-58. Rick Jackson led the way (as usual) with 17 and 13, his sixth double-double in seven games. Kris Joseph put up his third straight quality game, with 16 points including 2-4 from beyond the arc. That early season 14% is inching up to respectability. But the story from Tuesday's game is not Joseph and Jackson, its the balanced offensive attack and contributions from unexpected sources.

Fab Melo absolutely shocked the Dome, contributing 8 points, 7 boards and 4 blocks. He made mistakes and looked a step behind at times, but it was a huge, huge improvement over the first six games. Further surprises include Dion Waiters and Brandon Triche, who may be responding to some healthy competition for playing time. Waiters is earning more and more, with 11 points (3-4 from 3) and 4 assists. In addition, his active defense on the perimeter continues to impress. Triche struggled early but made some plays in the second half to turn in a respectable game. Is he feeling the heat?

It was a nice, easy win for the Orangemen. Maybe a little too easy. Cornell shot only 33% for the game, a product of good defense no doubt, but they missed many open looks. The Big Red handed the Cuse this one on a silver platter. Hey, at least we accepted their offering with alley-oops and thunderous dunks. Oh, and if you've got a link to C.J. Fair absolute posterization midway through the second half, leave it in the comments. Dunk of the year, baby!

UPDATE: the dunk in question, below

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.

The Aftermath of the William & Mary "Victory"

In the aftermath of an extremely upsetting 63-60 victory over the William & Mary Tribe, a school beat thoroughly by the likes of the University of Virginia Cavaliers and the Richmond Spiders, one has to step back and reflect upon what we have witnessed so far this season.

The first thing that jumps out at you is that this Syracuse team has no killer instinct. They simply can not put a team away. The Orangemen had an early 10 point lead in the game on Sunday, however allowed William & Mary to scrap back into it with missed shots, missed rebounds, and lackluster offense. The Orangemen would go into the half up just two points (32-30). Syracuse would also build a 9 point second half lead, which the Tribe turned into a 4 point lead of their own with under 3 minutes to play in the ball game.

If Syracuse wants to be successful this year, they are going to need to get a lead, and keep tacking on points. You simply can not let teams hang around, because they will start making shots and then the pressure is on the Cuse to respond. Jim Boeheim's squad got lucky on Sunday, with William & Mary stepping out of bounds in the final seconds with the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead. That most likely will not happen again.

Kris Joseph responded from an exceptionally poor game against Detroit last Tuesday with an 18 point effort on Sunday. Joseph finished 5-12 from the floor (0-3 from 3-point range) with 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 steal and zero turnovers in 34 minutes. That's the effort Syracuse is going to need to get from Joseph if they want to win ball games this season. However it can't just be him. They need a balanced scoring attack, and they need to limit the 3-pointers.

Scoop Jardine, who had 27 points against Detroit, chipped in 11 on Sunday and shot just 4-17 from the floor, 3-10 from 3-point range. If you take out Scoop's 10 attempts, Syracuse shot 2-12 from long range. The more Syracuse misses 3-pointers, the more teams will play off them and allow the long range shot in favor of having numbers under the basket for the rebound. William & Mary did it, and successfully. The smaller Tribe team managed to equal Syracuse in rebounds for the game, 37 apiece. If the Tribe can figure it out, assume other Big East school's and Tom Izzo will figure it out as well.

Perhaps the Orangemen could use a road trip. A chance to bond as a team away from the distractions of the University and the wide sight-lines of the Carrier Dome. Luckily for them they have a chance to spend a weekend away from Syracuse beginning this Friday in the Legends Classic. Taking place in Atlantic City, Syracuse will meet the Michigan Wolverines Friday night at 8PM at Boardwalk Hall. They will then meet the winner/loser of the UTEP-Georgia Tech game on Saturday night.

I'd like to say that it's a given Syracuse will beat Michigan and play the late game Saturday night. Three weeks ago I would have. However, after watching Syracuse stumble all over themselves to a 4-0 season record, saying Syracuse can win on Friday night couldn't be further from a guarantee.

Michigan is 3-0 right now, with victories against college basketball powerhouses USC Upstate (66-35), Bowling Green (69-50) and Gardner-Webb (80-58). As bad as Syracuse fans want to believe the Wolverines might be, they haven't trailed at the half to any scrub teams, nor have they been losing with under 3 minutes left in a game to a team that had yet to lose by less than 20 points this season.

Whether or not Syracuse can find their offensive game this weekend in Atlantic City will be the turning point for the season. If the Orangemen were to fall to the Wolverines on Friday night, the remaining non-conference schedule could get ugly, and it won't be any prettier once the conference games begin. Confidence would be low, team morale might be lower, and many Syracuse fans across the country would be heartbroken.

However, if Syracuse can win big against both opponents this weekend at the Legends Classic, it might give them the confidence they will need to beat North Carolina State and Michigan St. and springboard them into the conference slate of games with some moxie and swagger that they desperately need.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com