BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: SYRACUSE @ SOUTH FLORIDA

February 13, 2008


Syracuse looks to extend the misery of the South Florida Bulls tonight when they travel south looking for a win. Since opening Big East play with a win over Rutgers, South Florida has dropped 10 straight games, including an early January meeting at Syracuse.

Here are the pregame previews and stories from local media sources:

Boeheim Keeps it Interesting at Syracuse (Tampa Tribune)
Heath Fights to Keep Fires Stokes (St. Petersburg Times)
USF Bulled Over in League Play (Syracuse Post-Standard)

Syracuse cruised past the Bulls early in January with an 89-77 win at the Carrier Dome. The Orange will look for the season sweep when they travel to meet South Florida tonight. This is a big game for the Orange, who have a tough three-game stretch ahead including a home date with Georgetown this weekend then road games at Louisville and Notre Dame follow. The young team needs to be focused on tonight's game first before thinking of the tough finishing stretch ahead of them.

This game has danger written all over it for SU. With the tough stretch ahead and a rotation that seems to be shrinking (6 players played 199 of 200 minutes in their last game), the Orange can expect a strong effort from the Bulls, who are desperate to end the losing skid.

It has definitely been a disappointing season for the Bulls. They had some solid wins out of conference this year and the exciting inside out combination of freshman Dominique Jones and senior Kentrell Gransberry looked to give them some potential. However, all too often, they fail to get anything from the rest of their team. Chris Howard and Jesus Verdejo are solid players, but their main weakness comes at the forward position.

Luckily, the think Orange roster is one they can match-up with fairly well. Gransberry and Arinze Onuaku are both loads in the paint and whoever gets the best of that match-up puts themselves in great position tonight. Syracuse has NO depth, so any foul trouble on Onuaku could spell doom for SU.

Kris Ongenaet is the SU power forward. The JUCO transfer is not asked to do a whole lot, just hit the boards and play defense. USF gets very little from their power forward position with Orane Chin getting most of the time. At the wing, SU has the dynamic frosh Dante Greene putting up big numbers. Greene loves to shoot the ball and has a pretty looking jumpshot, if it is on, SU is tough to beat. If he is not on...he will try to shoot his way out of it, which could make things interesting. USF has Jesus Verdejo on the wing, if healthy, he has potential, but he has yet to really settle into a consistent role with USF since transferring in.

SU's backcourt has been playing really well, led by the Niagara Falls duo of Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris. The Bulls counter with Jones and Howard. The Bulls do have a little depth on the perimeter with Aaron Holes and Solomon Bozeman. If they can get SU in any kind of foul trouble, they could be in great position.

Syracuse is a 5-pt favorite in what screams as a trap game. It seems like efvery yeat the Bulls sneak up on someone, could tonight be that game? Jim Boeheim knows the importance of this game as SU needs wins...especially with the tough stretch ahead. I think they get the win as their zone forces USF to settle for the perimeter shot too often, but it will not be easy...

NBE Blogger Prediction: Syracuse 66 South Florida 62

Read more!

BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: SYRACUSE @ VILLANOVA

February 2, 2008



These two teams have already met this season, with Villanova picking up a surprising 10-pt win at the Carrier Dome. Since that game, the fortunes of both teams have changed pretty dramatically.

Syracuse followed the Villanova loss with a heartbreaking loss at Georgetown in overtime, a game that SU looked like they were about to steal, only to see the Hoyas steal it back. I t looked like things were about to get worse for the Orange when it was announced freshman Antonio Jardine was suspended from the team indefinitely for violating University code. However, even just using six scholarship players, the Orange pulled together and gritted out a win over Providence and got a victory over DePaul.

On the other hand, Villanova has flamed out since their win over SU. The Wildcats were have lost back-to-back-to-back games to Rutgers, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, all by double digits. The Wildcats are not a great shooting team and they have little size upfront, although the return of Casseim Drummond shoul dhelp as he gets back into game shape.

Syracuse finally found a way to win on the road in the Big East as Arinze Onuaku carried the load for the Orange in a win over DePaul. The big man hit 10 of 13 shots and rescued the rest of SU from a poor shooting night. This is already SU's 10th Big East game and they have been doing this short-handed because of injuries to Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins and roster attrition with Josh Wright (academics) and Devin Brennan-McBride (injuries). The Jardine suspension was expected to break the camel's back, but Jim Boeheim is not in the Hall of Fame for nothing and players like Dante Greene, Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris are highly talented ballplayers.

Winning in the road in the Big East takes 100% mental focus, playing all these games in such a short time frame can drain some of that focus from even the most experienced teams, let a lone one as young at SU. With Villanova absolutely desperate for a win and expect them to use every kind of defense to confuse and frestrate the Orange, a motivated performance from the Wildcats should allow them to protect their home court. Scottie Reynolds should be able to find his spots against the SU zone and more energy on the defensive end should lead to other offensive opportunities.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Villanova 74 Syracuse 70

Read more!