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