Versatility. It can be the difference between becoming a champ or becoming a chump.
In Buffalo, New York, the spotlight was shining brightly on the Syracuse Orangeman as they took the floor, minus one of its leaders, Arinze Onuaku. After watching top-ranked Kansas get knocked out of the tournament the previous day, Syracuse definitely was feeling the pressure to deliver a solid performance against a Gonzaga squad ranked 22nd in the AP Poll and a perennial NCAA Tourney upstart.
Johnson Leads Syracuse To Blowout Victory
The Orangemen didn’t disappoint and sent a message to the remaining teams in the field that they are the team to beat with a stunning 87-65 rout. With Onuaku in street clothes on the bench and center Rick Jackson on the bench with three fouls with 8:58 remaining in the first half, the Orangemen were ripe for defeat. Instead, the showed why they are the most feared team in the tournament, as they stuffed the Gonzaga offense with a stifling 2-3 zone and spread the wealth on offense as they went on a 15-4 run to close the first half to open a 15 point lead.
The beatdown didn’t end there, as Syracuse opened the second half with another 15-4 run over four minutes to effectively to put a close to the game and coast in with the most impressive victory by any team thus far in the tournament.
On both ends of the court, everything went right. As a team, Syracuse shot 55% from the field, 48% from behind the arc and 74% from the free throw line. Defensively they held Gonzaga to 42% from the field and 14% from behind the arc, numbers which improved as Syracuse showed mercy over the final ten minutes.
The offensive onslaught was led by Wesley Johnson and Andy Rautins. Johnson scored a career high 31 points and 14 rebounds with Rautins scoring 24 points while draining five three pointers. Brandon Triche chipped in 13 points and Scoop Jardine added 9 points. Rick Jackson pulled down 10 rebounds and Kris Joseph added 6 boards to round out the action.
The victory was all that more impressive given that star big man, Arinze Onuaku was still nursing a quadricep injury that he aggravated during the Big East tournament. Onuaku, considered one of the best defensive players in the NCAA, is the central core of the vaunted 2-3 zone defense. Despite Onuaku not on the floor, the Orangemen shut down the Gonzaga offense over and over and was especially relentless during the eight minute span that saw Syracuse establish a 30 point lead.
What makes Syracuse so dangerous for upcoming opponents is the preparation required to prepare for its 2-3 zone. During the regular season, teams get a few days to prepare during practice for what awaits on the floor that they only see when they play Syracuse. Gonzaga showed today what limited practice time can do to a team facing this defense. If Syracuse can win it first of two games in each of the upcoming weekends that close out the season, they have the advantage in the Regional Final and Final matchups.
At this point, nobody wants to play Syracuse and they are the clear favorite to be cutting down the nets in Indianapolis, with or without Arinze Onuaku.
Jim Boeheim and his Syracuse Orangemen (22-1) just keep rolling, winning their ninth straight game over Providence by a score of 85-68. Kris Joseph came of the bench to lead Syracuse with 23 points and Arinze Onuaku chipped in a season-high 20 points in the blowout victory. Jamine Patterson dropped in 25 points for the Providence Friars (12-10) in the defeat.
Orange Set School Record
The victory set a school record for the best start to a season. The 1979-1980 basketball squad, Boeheim’s fourth season at the helm, got off to a 22-1 before fading down the stretch and getting knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the Sweet Sixteen round. That team was led by the “Bouie and Louie” show, with Roosevelt Bouie and Louis Orr driving the team along with future NBA player Danny Schayes coming off the bench.
Syracuse once again showed its depth with seven players rotating and getting at least 20 minutes. Joseph and Onuaku were the hot hands on the floor and the Syracuse offense steered the ball in their direction. Joseph was 9 of 11 from the field and a perfect 5 for 5 on the foul line, while Onuaku was 10-12 from the field and was ferociously dominating in the paint.
The famed Syracuse 2-3 zone dominated in the second, busting open the three point lead the Orangeman held at halftime. Opening with a 22-7 run, the Orangemen never looked back and were never seriously threatened thereafter. Syracuse did this without standout forward Wesley Johnson. Midway through the first half, Johnson landed hard on the court after being upended in mid-air for a dunk. Johnson would log just three minutes in the second half.
The difference maker in the game were the little things that don’t always show up on the ESPN highlight show. Leading the team in assists was F/C Rick Jackson with seven assists. Point guards Brandon Triche and Scoop Jardine both finished the game with zero turnovers, keeping the ball in Syracuse hands and limiting Providence in scoring transition baskets.
“It just shows that they’re deep,” Providence coach Keno Davis said. “They’ve got so many guys that can have big games against you. And then their defense. They force you outside. They really understand their defense and they’re pretty physical when you try to rebound. It’s just a deep, physical, talented team.”
Next up for Syracuse, a road game at Cincinnati (14-7) on Sunday where they will look to extend their team record streak to open a season.
The Syracuse Orangemen came out sleeping at the start for the second straight game, but were able to overcome an 18-point deficit on the road to defeat the DePaul Blue Demons 59-57 in a Big East Conference matchup. Syracuse was lead by Wes Johnson who registered 16 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Orange. DePaul’s Will Walker scored 21 points in a losing effort.
Syracuse Survives In DePaul
Syracuse came out flat, falling behind 14-6 in the opening minutes. It was replay of their slow start against Georgetown this past Monday night, spotting the Hoyas 14 points before they got onto the scoreboard. But unlike the Georgetown game, Syracuse had work much harder to pull themselves back into this game, as the offense was unable to pull itself out of its lull.
As Syracuse laid brick after brick on the rim, DePaul was able to extend its lead to 33-15 with 8:53 left in the first half. The vaunted Syracuse 2-3 zone the kicked in and left DePaul with no answers as the Orange went on a 16-0 run that spanned 7:40 before DePaul’s Krys Faber nailed a jumper to halt the run, allowing DePaul to head into halftime with 35-31 lead against the #3 ranked team in the country.
Syracuse’s offensive woes continued into the second half, as senior guard Andy Rautins was unable to breakout of a two-game shooting slump and Syracuse struggled to get baskets to fall. DePaul built its lead back up to 52-43 after a Mac Koshwal layup with 7:20 remaining.
From that point on, it was all Syracuse. Kris Joseph, Rautins and Scoop Jardine connected on consecutive three-point baskets. The Syracuse offense then shifted into transition mode, as Johnson beat the Blue Demons up the court for a highlight reel dunk to tie the game and on the next possession Jardine was able to push through and past traffic for a layup that gave Syracuse the lead for the first time in the game at 56-54 with 3:37 left in the game.
Syracuse would not relinquish that lead again.
The Blue Demons has their chances to put Syracuse away, but squandered numerous opportunities. The key to the game actually didn’t happen on the floor, it happened in the coaches box for DePaul. Interim head coach Tracy Webster, who recently replaced the fired Jerry Wainwright, and his team squandered their timeouts in the second half. After using their final timeout at 8:28 while extending their lead, DePaul was unable to slow the momentum of Syracuse’s late run that would snatch away a chance at getting their 2nd Big East victory in their last 29 Big East games.
For Syracuse, it was another game that tested the mettle of its squad. It gives them some things to work on, but they should come away positive from the victory knowing that their worst offensive performance of the season resulted in a victory. When the pressure was on, the Orange once again delivered on both ends of the court.
Georgetown has historically owned the Syracuse Orangemen when they’ve been at the top of their game, delivering upsets that the Syracuse alumni will never forget. Syracuse has been rated in the Top 5 in four previous games with the Hoyas. The Orangemen’s record in those games is 0-4. John Thompson III invaded the Carrier Dome looking to carry on the legend of his father.
Andy Rautins Leads The Orangemen To Victory
The game kicked off looking like the Hoyas were once again going to deflate Syracuse’s season. Two turnovers and three missed jumpers in the first 3 minutes of the game left Syracuse trailing 14-0, not knowing what hit them. Jim Boeheim rallied his troops for the next 37 minutes for a 31 point turnaround that turned an imminent Syracuse blowout loss into a blowout victory against a highly regarded Hoyas basketball squad.
Boeheim earned his 819th career victory, moving into 6th on the all-time wins list, passing the currently idled Jim Calhoun of Connecticut. The victory was also the team’s 20th, extending Boeheim’s NCAA record of 32 20-plus win seasons in 34 years.
The way the Orangemen won the game was not as Boeheim had charted out. “We recovered from the worst start I can remember,” Boeheim said. “Our defense picked up and our offense got going. To go into halftime ahead was really unbelievable. To dominate a top-10 team after giving them 14 points is quite an effort. That’s as good as we can play. Everybody was looking for each other.”
Very true words.
What makes this Syracuse team intriguing this year is how they are putting away teams with major scoring runs driven by their defense. The offense maintains the run and doesn’t give it back going into scoring lulls. Its the type of basketball you usually don’t see at the college level. Where most teams are driven by a superstar with an NBA future, Syracuse doesn’t feature any one star that is looking beyond his college basketball days.
The comeback against Georgetown was fueled by the stunting 2-3 zone defense that Boeheim and Syracuse have become famous for. But it was their lack of selfishness on offense which was the difference maker. Their seven players rotation shared the ball, with no player on the Syracuse squad taking 10 shots or more from the field.
This selfless display comes on the heels of Syracuse’s definitive victory over Marquette on Saturday. In that game, Syracuse’s second leading scorer Andy Rautins played 36 minutes, taking only 2 shots and scoring no points. A refreshing change by a team leader within a sport where shameless self-promotion is the norm.
After the game, Rautins shrugged off questions from the media about his 0-for-2 performance, focusing instead on his teammates. Rautins noted how well the forwards took advantage of the mismatches down, “If you can’t score in one aspect, you find other ways to win.”
With that type of attitude living in the locker room, the rest of college basketball better take notice. The Orangemen are the most dangerous team in the NCAA.
The 2009-2010 college basketball season was supposed to be a rebuilding year at Syracuse. Jimmy Boeheim lost his star player Jonny Flynn as an NBA Lottery pick and starters Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris made silly decisions to enter the NBA draft only to be passed over, thus losing their NCAA eligibility. Top three scorers, 45 point per game combined, all gone. Boeheim was supposed to be prepping this year’s squad for the NIT.
One month into the season and Boeheim has perhaps done the best coaching job of his Hall of Fame career, leading Syracuse to a 9-0 start. Now, Syracuse has seen starts like this to the season before, ganging up on New York’s second-tier basketball programs in the Carrier Dome, but this year is different. The Orange stacked their early schedule with games against top ranked teams in North Carolina, California and Florida. And they didn’t just win the games, they dominated with double-digit blowouts.
That’s quite a turnaround after Orange fans were fearing for the worst after an exhibition lost to cross-town Lemoyne University, a Division II squad. Granted, it was an exhibition, but the Syracuse bench should have blown them out.
So what’s special about this team?
Very simple…they have bought into the Boeheim system. No matter how you feel about Boeheim and his painful to watch whining on the sidelines, the man is an expert at teaching the 2-3 zone defense and transition offense off the turnover. After their first 8 games, Cuse is holding opposing teams to 61.6 points per game. That is a stunning 10.1 point improvement over last year’s star-stocked squad. The opposing turnovers are up as well, averaging 20.8 versus last year’s 14.4 per game.
The winning trademarks this year have been stunning runs that put games away. Against California, Syracuse put together a 15-4 early in the 2nd half to bury the Golden Bears. The next night they topped that performance by opening the second half with a 22-1 run against the Tar Heels. And against Florida, Cuse piled it on with a 16-4 run in the middle of the second half and then closed it out with a 12-4 run to ice the game.
Uncharacteristic of Syracuse squads, this year’s team is getting contributions from every starter, as well as from its bench. Entering tonight’s game, 8 players were averaging 7.6 ppg or more. And with each victory it seems like a different member steps up. Against Cal it was backup guard Scoop Jardine, against Carolina it was Iowa State transfer Wesley Johnson, and this evening against Florida it was Rick Jackson.
Syracuse fans usually are keeping their fingers crossed as they enter the Big East schedle with hopes that the early season powder puff games are not just getting their hopes up. But given what we are seeing on the floor these days, right now Syracuse looks like a team to be reckoned with in March.
