Where Have You Gone, Malcolm Cater?

At some point this afternoon a message came across my twitter feed saying that syracuse was about to be thin at linebacker, and Malcolm Cater's name was mentioned. Not too long later, a player tweeted that he heard some bad news at practice today.

Sitting on my couch, I wondered what it could be. I searched the internets. Nothing. I looked on various message boards and still no go. I assumed it was some kind of injury that happened at practice. I mean what could possibly have happened?

Finally, around 4:20PM I get a text message saying that Malcolm Cater's name has been taken off the roster on SUAthletics.com. I poked around some more message boards and finally saw some threads about Malcolm Cater.

I'll preface the news saying that you should never believe anything you read on a message board. However, I went to SUAthletics.com's Football Roster myself and Malcolm Cater has indeed been removed. The story swirling around the internets right now is that Cater ALLEGEDLY (and remember everyone's innocent until proven guilty) broke into apartments on South Campus and ALLEGEDLY stole televisions.

The most shocking part of all this is that one of the alleged stolen televisions allegedly belonged to Syracuse starting Quarterback Ryan Nassib. All we can confirm right now is that Malcolm Cater, Freshman linebacker, is no longer listed as a member of the SU Football team.

More news will be posted here as it becomes available. Photo courtesy of syracuse.com

UPDATE: Syracuse Post-Standard confirms story that Malcolm Cater was indeed arrested for burglarizing apartments on south campus. Cater is due to be arraigned Sunday morning. Doug Marrone has released a statement: "I'm aware of the criminal charges filed against Malcolm Cater by the Syracuse Police Department. Cater is no longer part of the Syracuse football program." Click here for the full report from the Post Standard.

Syracuse to Host "Rival" Colgate Saturday

Many of us two-sport Syracuse Orangemen fans will remember meeting Colgate on the gridiron September 25th in the Carrier Dome. Let's be honest, we should all be at a minimum two-sport Orangemen fans! For those of you who missed it, Syracuse and Colgate have a long history of playing each other in football. A very long history. How about on the hardwood?

Syracuse is 117-45 against the Colgate Raiders All-Time. The first game was played in the 1901-02 season according to The Post Standard, and Syracuse has won 44 straight games against Colgate. In the "perfect season" of 1913/1914 Syracuse beat Colgate 29-28 in double overtime. Syracuse held Colgate to 5 first half points, however Colgate would score 21 in the 2nd half to force overtime.

In the first overtime, neither team scored. In the 2nd overtime, Syracuse managed 3 points while Colgate scored only 2. As the final horn rang out, Colgate appeared to have won the game with a buzzer beater, but the referee waved off the basket saying time had expired. Lewis Castle, Syracuse All-American, finished with 15 points on that day.

Then in 1927 Syracuse traveled to Hamilton, NY to take on Colgate, their biggest rival at the time. Colgate was unveiling a brand new gym, Huntington Gymnasium, however it would not be a happy affair for the home town fans. Syracuse "destroyed" Colgate 33-13 and ended Colgate's 10-game winning streak in the process.

In a clear sign of the times, the 1947 match up saw Syracuse traveling to play a Colgate team that would feature two future New York Knicks: Ernie Vandeweghe and Carl Braun. Syracuse won the game 66-65. Billy Gabor scored 23 points to lead the Orangemen. An interesting note about the 1947 Syracuse Orangemen, a fire destroyed Archbold Gym, and Syracuse had to finish their season without a home court to play on or practice in. The team went 9-4 following the fire, and had a final record of 19-5.

Syracuse and Colgate have played every season since 1993. Last year, Syracuse beat the Raiders 92-58. Unfortunately for Colgate, it's not 1947 anymore, and their basketball program has seriously fallen on hard times. The Raiders are 0-7 this season coming into the Carrier Dome, and are coming off a 68-57 loss to the St. Francis Terriers. They are averaging just 61 points per game and shoot 40.2% from the floor.

Yaw Gyawu (6'5" 219 pounds) is the team leading scorer, averaging 13.7 points 5.3 rebounds and 1 assist per game. He is shooting 45.5% from the floor this season. On November 19th of this year, Gyawu scored 9 points and grabbed six rebounds against #1 Duke on the road. Mike Venezia (6'1" 188 pounds) is averaging 9.2 points per game, however did not play against St. Francis on Tuesday. Nick Pascale (6'10" 256 pounds) and Josh Brandenburg (6'11" 263 pounds) are the big men for the Raiders, with Pascale averaging 17 minutes 5.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. Brandenburg averages 15.7 minutes per game with 4.4 points and 2.6 rebonds per game.

Syracuse (9-0) will look to score early and often on the Raiders, and should have no problem dismantling Colgate, who hails from the Patriot League. Expect the starters to be resting comfortably on the bench by the middle of the second half, and we will probably see some minutes off the bench for Mookie Jones and James Southerland.

Tip-off is Saturday Night at 7:00PM from the Carrier Dome, and the game will be televised live on The Big East Network (SNY). Check in with The Cuse Connection for complete recap and analysis after the game.

photo (Billy Gabor) and game information courtesy of the Syracuse Basketball Vault Book.

Syracuse Football Roster Update

Some bad news out of the Syracuse Football offices. It has been reported that starting Strong Safety and Senior Max Suter will not participate in the Pinstripe Bowl, and will undergo surgery on his right shoulder. Suter had 44 tackles (30 unassisted) and 2 forced fumbles this season, along with 1 sack and 3.5 tackles for a loss.

Head Coach Doug Marrone had nothing but nice things to say about Max Suter. "We're disappointed Max won't be able to finish what he started here. Max has been someone who has always represented this program with the utmost integrity, and the toughness he brings to this team is beyond what you expect as a coach."

In other roster news, Marrone has reported that Averin Collier is no longer a part of the SU Football team. He was ruled academically ineligible for the 2010 season, however was enrolled in school for the fall semester, and took reps as the running back for the scout team. At some point in November he no longer was at practice. Reason unknown at this time. In typical Doug Marrone fashion, he would not comment on the reason for his departure.

Da'Mon Merkerson, often abused senior cornerback who missed the Boston College regular season finale with a minor knee surgery, should be back in time to participate in the Pinstripe Bowl. Merkerson has 21 tackles this season (15 solo), 2.5 tackles for a loss and 2 interceptions. His two picks ties him with Derrell Smith for the team lead.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

Down the Stretch of Non-Conference Games

With the Orangemen win on Tuesday over the #8/#7 Michigan State Spartans Syracuse is now over the difficult hump of the non-conference schedule. There are four remaining non-conference games left on the schedule and all of them will be played in the Carrier Dome.

These final tune-ups will give Syracuse a chance to stretch their legs on offense and try out some new looks. For those fans who want to see Mookie Jones and James Southerland on the floor, this will be your chance (and their chance as well) to show Jim Boeheim whether or not they should be considered for minutes once the Big East Conference slate of games begins on December 28th.

In the first of four games Syracuse will host crosstown "rival" Colgate Raiders who have jumped out to an 0-7 record this season. They lost a few close games early, most notably a 2 points loss to Binghamton, a 3 point loss against St. Francis PA and they dropped a 5 point game against University of New Hampshire. The Raiders also got rocked by #1 Duke 110-58 in their 3rd game of the season.

Assuming the Orangemen's defense utterly obliterates whatever Colgate can throw at them and Syracuse can take an early lead and keep it, this will be the first chance Mookie Jones and James Southerland will have to take the floor for Syracuse since November 30th against Cornell when Syracuse won by 20 points.

If Jones and Southerland want to stay on the floor once conference play starts, they will both need to play solid minutes starting with the Colgate game on Saturday. They need to show Jim Boeheim that there is more to their games than just taking 3-pointers, especially for James Southerland.

Southerland is a big body (6'8" 205 pounds), however he has to stop camping out at the 3-point line on offense a la Donte Greene. Considering how poor a jump shooting team Syracuse is, Southerland needs to get himself under the basket and get to the offensive glass. It's not as if Southerland is a machine from long range either, he has knocked down 3 of his 16 3-point attempts. Unfortunately, he has also made 4 of 11 shots from inside the arc, giving him 25.9% accuracy from the field. James also has 11 total rebounds in 6 appearances, a figure that must improve if he wants to see some playing time once conference play begins.

In Mookie Jones' last appearance for Syracuse against Cornell he shot 1 of 5 from beyond the arc and was 4 of 4 from the foul line. He grabbed 2 rebounds and had 1 steal in the game as well in 11 minutes. I know Mookie wants to make shots when he's on the floor, but taking five 3-pointers in 11 minutes of action means he was attempting one every 2:12 on the floor. With that rate of shooting, you better make more than 1 shot, especially if you want to sniff some playing time once the Big East schedule starts.

Aside from making shots its important for these two players to show they can play sound defense within the 2-3 zone defense. Positioning and rebounding will be keys for both players if they want to earn their way out of Boeheim's bench. In games that Jones has played he's averaged 8.6 minutes per game. Southerland is averaging 11 minutes per game when he gets off the bench. Boeheim used him for at least 15 minutes twice in the first 3 games of the season, so clearly he wanted to give him a chance.

There's no doubting that over these next four games against Colgate, Iona, Morgan St. and Drexel that there will be opportunities for both these players to show what they have got. Hopefully they take advantage of the minutes they get and try to showcase more than just their 3-point stroke.

photo courtesy of syracuse.com

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.

Punter Rob Long Will Not Participate in Pinstripe Bowl

Scary news out of Syracuse University today. Senior punter Rob Long, of Downingtown, PA, will undergo surgery to remove a benign brain tumor and will not play in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on December 30th.

The tumor, which is benign, was discovered after an MRI on December 2nd and will require "imminent surgery." Long was complaining of headaches for several weeks leading up to the doctors visit.

Rob Long finishes his Syracuse Orangemen career ranked 2nd All-Time on the average punt distance list (43.3 yards). He was a 2nd Team All-Big East selection in his freshman year and was a co-captain in his junior and senior seasons.

Our thoughts go out to Rob Long as he heads into and then recovers from this surgery. Get well soon Rob!