Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine Lead Cuse Past Michigan State

It was a great night inside Madison Square Garden last night. With college basketball's biggest stage and Jim Valvano's legacy providing the backdrop, #7/#8 Syracuse took down the #8/#7 Michigan State Spartans 72-58 in front of a sell out Garden crowd of 19,391, many of whom were draped in Orange.

Rick Jackson literally had his way with the Spartans all night. In 37 minutes of action on the floor Jackson had 17 points on 8 of 15 shooting and grabbed 16 rebounds for his seventh double double in nine games this season. Six of his rebounds were on the offensive glass, and almost all of them resulted in 2 points for the Orangemen. He showed poise, patience, and a high basketball IQ all night as he dominated the Spartans inside, who had no answer for his strong physical game.

Scoop Jardine had a terrific game as well for the Orangemen, shooting 7 of 9 from the floor and scoring a game high 19 points. Scoop was 1-3 from beyond the 3-point line, so the only shots he missed from the floor were from three. That's the kind of game Syracuse is going to need out of Scoop, who also had 3 assists and 2 steals, if the Orangemen want to be successful this season. He needs to get himself in the lane and take the high percentage shots.

Kris Joseph was an unimpressive 3 of 10 from the floor (0-2 from 3-point range), however he finished 8 of 9 from the charity stripe for 14 points on the night. KrisJo also played tremendous defense within Syracuse's 2-3 zone and lead the team with 4 steals.

As a team Syracuse shot only 11 three pointers, and no one player took more than 3 shots from beyond the arc. Good thing too, because the Orangemen only made 2 three pointers. Michigan State was 7-24 from long range on the night.

Syracuse got tremendous play out of their freshman as well. C.J. Fair had an exciting 9 minutes in the game shooting 3 of 5 from the floor with 6 points and 2 steals 2 rebounds and zero turnovers. Baye Moussa Keita played great defense off the bench for Jim Boeheim and logged 27 minutes. Keita finished with 2 points, 3 rebounds 1 assist and 3 blocks for the Cuse.

Fab Melo, who didn't score nor rebound a single loose ball, made two terrific passes for assits, however had 4 fouls in 13 minutes. At least he didn't turn the ball over. Earlier this week Jim Boeheim said that Fab Melo has been battling a sore Achilles tendon the past few weeks, so perhaps that is factoring into his non-existent offensive game. He was 0-3 from the floor.

Durrell Sumemrs lead the Spartans with 18 points and Draymond Green had a team high 11 rebounds. After the game Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said "It's been a long time since we were manhandled like this. To be honest with you, it's been a long time" He would go on to say "We turned into a pretty boy jump shooting team instead of a blue-collar fist fighting team."

In his post game remarks, Jim Boeheim spoke about playing in Madison Square Garden. "We like to play here, we always have. It's a great place to play and we've had great success here for a long time." Credit that to the Orange heavy crowd, who were relentless all night in their support of their Orangemen. Syracuse leads the all time series against Michigan State 10-7.

Syracuse next plays Saturday December 11th in the Carrier Dome against Colgate (0-7). Tip off is scheduled for 7:00PM and the game will be televised live on SNY, the Big East Network.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Jimmy V Classic Tonight at Madison Square Garden

It's the day many of us have been waiting for since the schedule first came out. The first true test for the Orangemen. Many SU fans expected Syracuse to be 8-0 when December 7th came around, however many of us expected Syracuse to house all their opponents on their way to this record. Not beat William & Mary by 3 points, Michigan by 3 points, Detroit by 11 points, and Georgia Tech by 4 points.

Meanwhile, Michigan State, the unanimous preseason #2 team in the country, enters Madison Square Garden 6-2, with losses coming against UCONN and Duke. This Spartans squad has hit the road hard this season, and have logged enough frequent flier miles to earn a couple free flights along the way!

Starting on November 23rd and leading right up to today, the Spartans have traveled a total of 10,823 miles. That's the equivalent of 721.5 miles per day since November 23rd. Michigan State traveled 4,363 miles to Lahaina, Hawaii on the island of Maui for the Maui Invitational. They followed that trip with a 709 mile trip to Durham, North Carolina to take on the #1 team in the country, Duke. And this week the Spartans again went on the road, 679 miles to New York City's famous Madison Square Garden to take on the Syracuse Orangemen in the Jimmy V. Classic.

Syracuse, on the other hand, has only made 1 trip away from the Carrier Dome this season prior to this trip. A 315 mile trip down to Atlantic City, NJ. While many pundits out there believe Madison Square Garden to be located walking distance from the Carrier Dome, the truth of the matter is that it's a 248 mile trip. This will give Syracuse 878 travel miles going into the Garden for tonight's game against Michigan State.

Long story short, Syracuse has traveled just 8% of the miles Michigan State has logged this season. Does it matter? That remains to be seen. Michigan State has surely been tested by tougher competition, there is no denying that. The Spartans have turned the ball over 143 times in 8 games, which amounts to just about 18 turnovers per game on average.

While that is a promising sign for an Orangemen team that loves generating turnovers and running the fast break, Tom Izzo's Spartans are also shooting 43.1% from 3 as a team this season. For comparison's sake, Syracuse is shooting 29.7% from beyond the arc as a team.

The leading scoring threat for Michigan State is Kalin Lucas. He is averaging 14.9 points per game, however he does have a nagging leg injury which limited him to 15 minutes in the Spartans last game on Saturday and has held him out of practice all week. Tom Izzo said in the Detroit Free Press yesterday however that he expects Lucas to play tonight. Lucas also ruptured his Achilles tendon in the NCAA tournament last season, and is still recovering from that injury as well. Lucas is shooting 44.4% from 3-point range this season (12 of 27).

Izzo also said that guard Korie Lucious has missed practice time this week with bruised ribs. Lucious is averaging 9 points and 4.7 assists per game this season for the Spartans. Durrell Summers averages 14.5 points per game for Michigan State and is 16 of 38 from beyond the arc (42.1%). Draymond Green drops 13.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game on average. Green has knocked down 13 of his 24 3-point attempts so far this year, giving him an absurd 54.2% accuracy rate from 3.

For Syracuse to be successful today, they need to take high percentage shots and avoid long stretches of the game without a field goal. It's imperative that they protect the basketball, as they have been doing lately, but also must hit the glass hard and not allow Michigan State any second chance baskets.

On defense, they can't allow the Spartans to line up uncontested 3-point shots, because unlike the weaker competition Syracuse has seen this season, Michigan State can knock down 3-pointers all night, not just in the first half. They will not go quietly into the night. This is a Final Four team, make no mistake about it. When healthy, they are an absolute beast offensively. The Spartans are shooting 49% overall from the floor this season, which ranks 25th in the nation and average 17 assists per game (21st overall).

The 2-3 zone needs to be extremely active tonight, and it may need to be extended in order to defend against the Spartans' 3-point threats. When Syracuse has the ball, they can not afford to come away empty handed. They need to knock down shots, and need to make smart plays. This is the toughest test of a young season, and Syracuse needs to use this game as a measuring stick for where they want to be come March.

Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00PM and will come shortly after the conclusion of the #4 Kansas versus #14 Memphis game which tips off at 7:00PM in the first game of the Jimmy V. Classic Double-Header.

The Cuse Connection will be tweeting LIVE from Madison Square Garden. Be sure to follow us on twitter as we bring all the breaking news from the Garden as it happens.

Jim Boeheim on the Michigan State Spartans

"They've got a veteran team thats been to the final four. They've got one of the best coaches in the history of college basketball.. Three guys shoot 40% or better from the 3-point line, there's a lot to like about Michigan St. They really are a final four type team. I think it's the kind of game my team needs to really measure ourselves, to see what we need to do or what we are doing well"

Weekend Wrap Up

Where has the time gone? I apologize for not being able to maintain The Cuse Connection this week as I was away looking after a family matter. However, I have returned and in my absence we've had some nice contributions from Zach (the beard) Menchini, and the Philistine added our first ever podcast. We recorded it at the Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City during the legends classic. Hopefully you all found it enjoyable.

The biggest piece of news out of Syracuse, NY this week was the announcement that the Syracuse Orangemen officially accepted an invitation to the Pinstripe Bowl. By now, many news sources have reported the story to death. All I can say is that I am FIRED UP to attend the Pinstripe Bowl, which is literally being played in my backyard. Well, not behind my house, but rather a fifteen minute subway ride away. Tickets have been purchased, and you can expect The Cuse Connection to be tweeting live all day from Yankee Stadium.

It has also been confirmed that Kansas State has also accepted an invitation to the Pinstripe Bowl, and the game will be played at 3:30 on December 30th, 2010. The game will be televised live on ESPN. If you've gotten a late jump on tickets, and want to purchase tickets through the University, then be advised that the $36, $51 and $82 level tickets have sold out. Still remaining are tickets valued at $110 and $135. There are travel packages available and some sort of pre-game festivity, and all that information can be accessed here.

Also this week the Syracuse Orangemen basketball team defeated the Cornell Big Red 78-58 on Tuesday in the Carrier Dome. The Orangemen were once again lead by Rick Jackson to victory, as he registered his 6th double-double in 7 games this season. Jackson finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, to go along with 3 assists and one steal (zero turnovers). The rest of the Orangemen squad can not say the same about turnovers, as the team committed twenty of them.

Kris Joseph had 16 points and Dion waiters dropped 11 points in 20 minutes on 3 of 4 shooting beyond the arc. Fab Melo put together his best performance of this young season, contributing 8 points (3-4 from the field), 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and just 1 turnover in 22 minutes of action. However, freshman C.J. Fair stole the show, throwing down a thunderous SLAM DUNK from which the rims in the Carrier Dome have yet to recover. Fair only had 2 points on the night, but it was a loud 2 points.

Syracuse lead 38-17 at halftime, however turnovers mounted in the second half along with the sloppy play, and Cornell managed to outscore the Orangemen 41-40 in the second half. You can believe that Jim Boeheim was not pleased with the team's second half performance.

Today, Syracuse takes on North Carolina State in the Carrier Dome at 5:15PM. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. This game is the final tune up before Syracuse travels to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to play Michigan State in the Jimmy V. Classic. Hopefully any remaining jitters and mistakes can be worked out today, before the team travels to New York City.

Contrary to popular belief, New York City's Madison Square Garden is not located on Erie Boulevard. The Cuse Connection will be tweeting live from that event as well, and it is imperative that you follow us on twitter @CuseConnection.