Initial Thoughts on Rutgers Game

Syracuse played much better against what is really an inferior team in Rutgers. The State University of New York could legitimately lose every Big East game, but they'll probably pull out a win at home at some point (at least you'd hope).

S.U. jumped to an early lead 10-2, but Rutgers quickly got back in it, tying the game at 14. Syracuse went on a 23-4 run to take a 37-18 lead. The Orange went into the locker room holding a 38-22 advantage. The 'Cuse again jumped out of the half quickly extending the lead to nearly 30 points.

Coach Jim Boeheim quickly went to his bench at that point sending in the former red-shirt candidate Sean Williams, walk ons Justin Thomas, Ryan Cahak, and Jake Presutti. Those four logged 23 minutes combined. Sean Williams showed a nice little seven foot shot when he was left open. Williams looks like he might be able to play down the road, but he needs to put some muscle on. Unless your Hasheem Thabeet tall, you can't be that skinny and expect to be able to compete in the Big East.

The starters played well as they all were hitting their shots except Scoop Jardine. He's the ultimate box score stuffer except in the scoring column. He's great at getting rid of the ball as he enters the lane and great in transition, but the guy isn't a scorer. He's the Bruce Bowen of Syracuse.

If I did my calculations correctly, S.U. had an effective field goal percentage of 64% which is extremely high. Their season average is 55% which is 14th in the country. They finished with an offensive efficiency rating of 112, another very high number considering the fact the last ten minutes per played by a predominately walk on filled lineup. Rutgers was an 82 rating, and again remember they got a lot of easy baskets in the last minutes. If the starters play the entire game those numbers are around 120 and 70 probably. That's a phenomenal performance for a Big East game.