syracuse

Duke tops Syracuse in basketball’s newest and best rivalry

February 24, 2014 By admin

By Jeff Benedict

DURHAM, N.C. — Let it be said. Let it be written. Syracuse versus Duke has emerged as the most intoxicating rivalry in college basketball. And there is nothing the NBA has to offer that comes remotely close in terms of entertainment value.

Syracuse’s 91-89 overtime victory over Duke at the Carrier Dome on Feb. 1 remains the best game of the season. But Duke’s 66-60 defeat of Syracuse last night at Cameron Indoor Stadium had unparalleled and unrelenting intensity. Few rematches live up to the hype. This one did.

Tickets on the street sold for as high as $2,000. Cameron Crazies covered in blue paint began screaming non-stop in the student section two hours before tip off. It was so loud by game time that you literally had to cup your hands and shout at the person next to you to be heard. Some media and security wore earplugs.

Emotions were so high that Jim Boeheim came unhinged and was escorted off the floor by police after being tossed with 10.4 seconds remaining. It marked the first time in his 38-year career that he’d been ejected from a regular season game.

Boeheim’s meltdown started after Syracuse forward C.J. Fair drove the baseline with 11 seconds to play and Duke leading by 2. Fair collided with Duke forward Rodney Hood before making an acrobatic layup that was waived off when an offensive foul was assessed by official Tony Greene.

Boeheim tried unsuccessfully to rip off his jacket before tearing onto the court and showering Greene with enough expletives to make Martin Scorsese proud.

The outburst got him a double technical that put the game out of reach. Duke’s Quinn Cook hit three-of-four free throws and the Blue Devils maintained possession. It was over. Top-ranked Syracuse fell to 25-2 and fifth-ranked Duke improved to 22-6.

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[MARCHVEGAS] – noun 1. “March to Vegas” symbolizes the humanistic tendency to march, migrate, or advance as a deliberate or organized body in a habitual manner back to Las Vegas. 2. Marriage of March Madness and Las Vegas, especially during tournament time. 3. The “MARCHVEGAS 4-day™ Holiday” (March 20 – 23, 2014) – Sign the Petition.

Trevor Cooney, Tyle Ennis help Syracuse crush Indiana

December 4, 2013 By admin

Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Last March, Syracuse shut down Indiana in the NCAA tournament with coach Jim Boeheim’s signature 2-3 zone defense.

Different season, same result for the Hoosiers.

The Orange backcourt of Trevor Cooney and Tyler Ennis combined for 38 points, nine assists and eight steals, and No. 4 Syracuse beat Indiana 69-52 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Tuesday night.

“Because it’s Indiana, it’s kind of like a rivalry, and they’re a really good team,” said Cooney, who scored 21 points. “We wanted to come out and prove to everyone that we’re a good team.”

Syracuse, fresh from winning the Maui Invitational, registered seven blocked shots, 10 steals and matched the nation’s top team on the glass with 29 rebounds with just a 12-11 deficit on the offensive glass. Indiana shot 15 of 41 (36.6 percent) and was 6 of 13 from the field in the second half in getting outscored 36-23.

“We finally got our offense going a little bit, made a couple of baskets, but our defense was really the difference for the first time this year,” Boeheim said. “Coming back from Hawaii, I thought the way everybody held their legs was pretty good. Our energy level was pretty good.”

So, too, was that of the crowd of 26,414, whose deafening roars in the second half rocked the Carrier Dome as the Orange assumed control.

“We just get up for these games,” Ennis said.

Syracuse (8-0) has won 46 straight nonconference games at home, and there was no love lost in this rematch from last season’s East Regional semifinal won handily by the Orange. Indiana was called for two flagrant fouls Tuesday, the second coming in the second half as the game was slipping away.

Syracuse used a 25-4 run to break open a tie game after holding just a 33-29 halftime lead despite scoring the game’s first 10 points.

“The first three, four possessions. I’m not a big believer in the first 5 minutes, but this one was,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “This is one of those games where the first few possessions were going to be absolutely crucial in the second half, and they were. And it totally went the other way. I’m unbelievably disappointed in the lack of fight in the second half.”

The youthful Hoosiers (6-2) had only lost, 59-58, to No. 12 Connecticut at Madison Square Garden in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Wounded Warrior Project.

After Indiana’s Noah Vonleh tied it at 33-all early in the second half, Syracuse went on a 12-0 run.

Dajuan Coleman started the run with a putback and Cooney followed with a steal and 3-pointer, then went 3 of 3 from the free throw line after being fouled on another 3-point attempt.

C.J. Fair’s driving layup with 13:18 gave the Orange a 45-33 lead. Ennis had three steals during the spurt and the Orange forced the Hoosiers into a shot-clock violation as they could muster nothing offensively.

“We had a stretch where we had a lot of turnovers,” said Indiana guard Yogi Farrell. “We were very quiet. Maybe some guys didn’t believe the game was winnable.”

Fair finished with 15 points but had to sit 5 minutes in the second half after picking up his fourth foul, one of four Syracuse players who finished the game with four.

Vonleh had 17 points for the Hoosiers, 13 from the free throw line, and Ferrell added 12 points, only three in the second half — a 3-pointer with 1:59 remaining.

The first-ever meeting between Indiana and Syracuse was for the 1987 national championship, and Indiana won 74-73 on a baseline jumper by Keith Smart with 4 seconds left. Boeheim said he never got over that loss until he won the 2003 national championship with Carmelo Anthony, and he’s been perfect against Indiana since, winning five straight.

In March the Hoosiers were like most of the nonconference teams on the Syracuse schedule, not used to seeing Boeheim’s trademark 2-3 zone, and it showed right from the outset. The team that finished third in the country last season in scoring at 79.5 points per game while shooting 48.6 percent had no answer for the zone and lost 61-50 as Syracuse limited the top-seeded Hoosiers to their lowest output of the season while forcing 19 turnovers and blocking 10 shots.

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Syracuse hoops to play preseason games in Canada

June 24, 2013 By R.George

The Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — The Syracuse men’s basketball team will play four exhibition games against Canadian universities this summer.

The Orange trip begins in Montreal with games against Bishop University and McGill University on Aug. 21-22 on the McGill campus. The team travels to Ottawa for games against Carleton University and Ottawa University on Aug. 23-24. Those games will be at Scotiabank Place, home of the Ottawa Senators.

It’ll be a homecoming of sorts for incoming freshman Tyler Ennis, who is from Brampton, Ontario. He was recently selected to Canada’s junior national team, which is competing in the U19 World Championships later this month.

Syracuse finished 30-10 after losing to Michigan in the national semifinals. The school will transition from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference in July.

4-Point Round Up & AP Top 25

January 22, 2013 By R.George

4-Point RoundUp:

*Dunk of the year by Glenn Robinson III already being molded for its 2013 coronation.
*Duke replaces Louisville as the new AP Top 25 Ranked Team.
*Missouri coaching staff getting static as NCAA allegations loom.
*Find out more how a 4-day™ holiday is in your future.

The Associated Press Top 25 Poll:

1.Duke 16-1
2.Michigan 17-1
3.Kansas 17-1
4.Syracuse 18-1
5.Louisville 16-3
6.Arizona 16-1
7.Indiana 16-2
8.Florida 14-2
9.Butler 16-2
10.Gonzaga 17-2
11.Kansas State 15-3
12.Minnesota 15-3
13.Michigan State 17-3
14.Ohio State 14-4
15.New Mexico 16-2
16.Oregon 16-2
17.Creighton 17-2
18.North Carolina State 15-4
19.Virginia Commonwealth 16-3
20.Wichita State 17-2
21.Cincinnati 16-4
22.Missouri 14-4
23.Mississippi 15-2
24.Notre Dame 15-4
25.Miami (FL) 13-3

By Roy George

*Note: New 4-Point RoundUp image totally inspired by Team Bristol.

[MARCHVEGAS] – noun 1. “March to Vegas” which symbolizes the humanistic tendency to march, migrate, or advance as a deliberate or organized body in a habitual manner back to Las Vegas. 2. Marriage of March Madness and Las Vegas, especially during tournament time. 3. The “MARCHVEGAS 4-day™ Holiday” (March 21 – 24, 2013) – Sign the Petition.

Syracuse Orange – Gets the best of No. 1 Louisville

January 21, 2013 By R.George

The Syracuse Orangemen barely got by the number one ranked Louisville Cardinal team at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. With 15 turnovers, this was hardly a game in which the Orange overly dominated as the affair was close and easily could have been anyone’s game especially down the stretch. In the end however it was a Syracuse victory over Louisville 70 to 68.

Smith of Louisville led all scorers with 25 while Behanan and Blackshear both had nine apiece. Brandon Triche let the Orange with 23, Carter-Williams had 16 and Grant and Fair both had 10. The guard play was up-tempo but created many mistakes as Michael Carter-Williams had 8 of the 15 team turnovers alone. Triche on the other side got off his shot when he wanted shooting 9 for 13 but a bit more ball movement at times could have worked in the Orangemen’s favor in making the Cardinal work more on defense before throwing up the rock.

Towards the end, Siva for the Cardinals turned the ball over and Carter-Williams had another break-away slam (was fouled but no call) and Louisville still had a chance to come back. With 13 seconds, the Orange allowed the Cardinals to conveniently roll the ball all the way to mid-court giving them a comfortable chance to comeback. I’m not saying they needed to pull out the Press 51 or anything but at least have one guy pressure the ball with only 13 seconds, and force them into maybe a hurry up shot?

As it was for both teams, turnovers just simply killed them. An unfortunate turnover by Louisville down low secured the Orangemen victory and granted Syracuse atop the Big East standing at 16-1 though it really was an ugly win. They will get a bump from no 6 up to a top 3 spot but don’t let that fool you, this team is vulnerable. As for the Louisville Cardinals, they didn’t stay at number one very long but they’ll have plenty of chances to redeem themselves on March 2nd when they meet again.

PLAYER ROSTER/STATS AREA

#	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	Class	PPG	RPG	APG	TO	BLK
1	Michael Carter-Williams	G	6’5′	184	So.	16	4	7	8	2
25	Rakeem Christmas	F	6’9′	228	So.	2	6	0	1	0
23	Russ DeRemer	G	6’5′	208	Jr.	0	0	0	0	0
5	CJ Fair	F	6’8′	212	Jr.	10	8	1	3	0
4	Nolan Hart	G	5’10’	155	Jr.	0	0	0	0	0
13	Griffin Hoffmann	G	6’0′	178	Sr.	0	0	0	0	0
12	Baye Keita	C	6’10’	215	Jr.	4	5	0	1	0
14	Matt Lyde-Cajuste	F	6’4′	205	Sr.	0	0	0	0	0
33	Albert Nassar	F	6’6′	195	So.	0	0	0	0	0
43	James Southerland	F	6’8′	215	Sr.	0	0	0	0	0
20	Brandon Triche	G	6’4′	205	Sr.	23	6	2	1	0
10	Trevor Cooney	G	6’4′	188	Fr.	2	0	0	0	0
32	DaJuan Coleman	C	6’10’	285	Fr.	3	1	0	0	0
0	Michael Gbinije	F	6’7′	205	So.	0	0	0	0	0
3	Jerami Grant	F	6’7′	190	Fr.	10	5	1	1	1

TEAM SCHEDULE AREA

Date	Opponent
Jan. 26	at Villanova
Feb. 02	at Pittsburgh
Feb. 04	Notre Dame
Feb. 10	St. John’s
Feb. 13	at Connecticut
Feb. 16	at Seton Hall
Feb. 20	Providence
Feb. 23	Georgetown
Feb. 25	at Marquette
Mar. 02	Louisville
Mar. 06	DePaul
Mar. 09	at Georgetown

MARCHVEGAS 2013
To catch the Badgers for March Madness, why not take a break, “March to Vegas” and see all the excitement at once for the first round of the tournament? Watch hoops and gamble by day, play and party by night for 4 blissful days; it’ll feel just like a 4-day™ holiday.

MARCHVEGAS 2013 is from Thursday March 21st till Sunday March 24th. Though visiting Las Vegas is the greatest during this time, it is only optional. You must think real hard young Jedi and decide if you want to “work” or take the MARCHVEGAS 4-day Holiday. If you choose the later, then Sign the Petition, “Make MARCHVEGAS a 4-day holiday and check out our travel options to Las Vegas.

By Roy George