The Syracuse Orange picked up another nice win on the road, beating Cincinnati 71-54 at Fifth Third Arena to move to 23-1 on the year. The game was back and forth until the midway point of the second half and when the Orange put the clamps on Mick Cronin's team and finished the game on a 28-5 run. That's not a typo.
The magical 2009-10 run for the Orange continues. The team has been so impressive Pat Forde thinks Jim Boeheim should be the national coach of the year. I obviously agree, but the real hardware everyone, including coach Boeheim wants, is another title.
It's late and I'm still in a food coma from the Super Bowl, so I'll be brief. Here are a couple of quick observations on the game.
* Mick Cronin is an odd looking man. However, he does look a little like Toby Flenderson from the Office.
* Speaking of Cronin, after the game he said if the Bearcats play the way they played tonight they will be OK. He probably should have said if they play the way they played for the first 28 minutes they'll be OK, but I get it. For much the game Cincy was tough and patient.
* Fifth Third Arena is apparently named after a bank. I'm not sure I'd put my money in a bank with that dumb of a name. Don't worry Key Bank, you can keep hammering me with your fees, I'm not switching just yet.
* With Wes Johnson saddled with foul trouble, Andy Rautins carried the team offensively in the first half, and Kris Joseph picked up the slack in the second. Joseph has simply been amazing in the second half of games this year. He's the second best closer in the state of New York right now behind Mariano Rivera.
* I was impressed with Ibrahima Thomas. He's a big kid that can play. He definitely gave Rick and Arinze fits at times.
* Cincinnati played 11 guys - Syracuse played 7, yet the SU bench outscored Cincinnati's 28 to 11. Sometimes it's quality not quantity.
* The greatest asset this team has is how balanced and unselfish it is. Today Wes Johnson struggled, so Kris Joseph scored 17. Brandon Triche didn't really get going, but Scoop Jardine stepped in and played 30 solid minutes and gave the team 11 points and 6 assists. You never really know who is going to step up, but you know someone will.
* We are officially at the point in the season where you start to wonder about March. What would constitute a disappointment? This team is good enough to win it all, but on any given day.....it's a great a thing to wonder about. It sure as hell beats bubble talk.
Let's look at some charts, courtesy of StatSheet.
Here's how the Orange fared in "factors of winning"
And here's the game flow.
1 comment:
Also a raise of the glass to Rick Jackson's 2nd half performance...he was battling on the glass and had a couple of nice finds. I'm really enjoying this team...let's not take it for granted, should be a magical March.
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