Syracuse - Iona: Quick Takes

Photo: Dennis Nett/Post Standard

The pesky Iona Gaels came into Syracuse and played the fifth ranked Syracuse Orange tough before finally succumbing to the Orange 83-77.  Syracuse was led by Kris Joseph and Brandon Triche, but the real surprise of the game came when Jim Boeheim inserted little-used forward James Southerland into the game with about 9 minutes to go.  Southerland immediately drained a 3 and added a couple of dunks to give SU the lift it needed.  It will be interesting to see how playing time is meted out going forward, because the guy who's minutes Southerland stands to take would be freshman C.J. Fair -- and Fair played well tonight.  Having too many guys who can play is certainly a good problem to have.

Here are some quick takes on the game:

• Kris Joseph drew Boeheim's ire a few times tonight but provided the scoring and aggressiveness SU needs out of him. It was good to see him find his shot.
• Brandon Triche put together his second really, really solid outing in a row.  He made some threes and more importantly, he was smart with the ball.  Tallying a team high seven assists, he was a calm leader out on the floor.
• His back court mate Scoop Jardine didn't play as well, so Brandon's play was needed, however the two did combine for 13 assists and only four turnovers.
• It's clear that Dion Waiters has the most pure talent on the team.  He is going to absolutely explode at some point.  On a team with less depth he'd be playing more minutes and putting up really big  numbers.
• Let's give a shout out to Iona coach Tim Cluess - it takes a real man to rock a blonde mustache - and rock it he did.
• Mike Glover is an amazing talent.  Living in Albany I'll be sure to catch his match up with Siena's Ryan Rossiter - they are clearly the two best big guys in the MAAC.
• To me Iona looks like a an NCAA Tournament team.
• Loved the athleticism and energy Southerland brought off the bench.  As I said above, it will be interesting to see how playing time shakes out going forward.
• And I'd hate to see James after a few Red Bulls - that would be terrifying.
• And in case you were wondering, the robots say "Syracuse fan sentiment is accelerating" so I hope you're properly accelerated after tonigh't win. 

SU takes on Morgan State Monday night - get your Todd Bozeman is a criminal jokes ready.

Courtesy of StatSheet, here are the player impacts on the game. As you can see, Mike Glover....he had an impact.

NCAA Basketball