Looks like Nitology Edition II is Coming Syracuse's Way

SU just did not come prepared to play tonight in South Florida. I said they would get off to a slow start, but this was just ridiculous and unacceptable.

Despite the furious comeback late in the game by the Orange, the Bulls win it 89-78. The Orange showed heart late in the game, but the terrible turnovers and overall execution cost Syracuse too much.

Syracuse had all the size in this game, but didn't take advantage of it. Paul Harris should have been all over the Bulls. He tore apart an undersized Villanova lineup, but also played well against a huge lineup against UCONN. He should have been able to completely take over this game, but didn't.

Jim Boeheim is a great coach, a Hall of Fame coach, but USF's coach Stan Heath took him to school today. Boeheim had a week to prepare for this game, but had nothing for South Florida. The Bulls attacked the zone perfectly and then really picked apart the man to man Boeheim went to.

First half free throw shooting also helped bury this team. They shot 6 of 13 from the line in the first half which helped extend the deficit. As the 'Cuse began to fall further behind with the missed free throws and turnovers, the Orange began resorting to bad looks at the basket as soon as they got down court.

When you're down 20 with 14 minutes left, you have a size advantage, and your opponent's big men are in serious foul trouble, take the ball to the hoop every single possession. Just go to the hoop and go up strong. You should score almost half the time plus the fouls you'll pick up. The Orange could have really cut down this lead if they had done that.

Defensively, I'm not too entirely sure what to think. Overall, you have to say it was a poor effort between the constant easy opportunities off the failed press and turnovers. SU also often forced South Florida to take a long time to get off a shot, but many times late in the shot clock the Orange defense just broke down.

The press was absolutely killing Syracuse the entire second half. Yes, they forced some turnvers, but USF got so many easy baskets and drew so many fouls because they broke the press without a problem. Several times, Syracuse doubled once in the half court, but USF got a couple of wide open looks which they drilled.

Kudos to Kentrell Gransberry though. He played tough all game in foul trouble. He completely took over the game in the second half. He got USF off to a solid start with a couple early baskets and then kept South Florida rolling in the second half.

Same to Jesus Verdajo. The guy played the game of his life. For USF to win this game, they needed someone other than Dominique Jones and Kentrell Gransberry to step up, and Verdajo was that guy. When Syracuse was able to shut the two of them down, Verdajo was able to get a very good look.

Thanks Kristof! for showing up to play today. Orange nation appreciates your one rebound, three personal foul performance today during the first 35 minutse of the game. I know he had a couple big players late in the game, but his performance or lack there of during the bulk of this game really helped put SU in a massive hole. When you're playing seven players, you can't have one just absolutely not show up like this.

What this does in terms of Syracuse's NCAA tournament status:
SU didn't have a terrible loss yet this year until tonight. Standing at 16-9 with a 6-6 conference record with a remaining schedule from hell, things don't look good at all. I thought they could get in the tournament with a 9-9 conference record if they were the right nine wins. SU is now setting up to be able to get a "solid" nine wins if they can get there. To get to nine wins they would need to beat Seton Hall on the road and then pull out two games against five of the six best Big East teams. If they can get those two wins plus a win at Seton Hall they will still be alright heading into selection Sunday if they win a game in the Big East Tournament. With all that said, obviously Syracuse needed this win badly and it will hurt them dearly. This was one of those games that in no way was going to help your resume, but only hurt it.

On a side night, awesome crowd again for the Orange. There were several very noticable "Let's Go Orange" chants in the second half.

For Syracuse, they need to just do the old cliche of put it behind them and go after Georgetown. I have a feeling the Georgetown game will either be another butt kicking like tonight or Syracuse will come out and put a hurt on the Hoyas in front of the massive Dome crowd. The crowd for that game should be over 30,000. The best tickets you can buy online through SUAthletics are in section 320 and 336 near the top of those sections. Those are the second longview sections on each end of the court. If you are going to that game and don't have tickets get them ASAP or you will be sitting so far away you might as well just watch the game on the jumbo screens. For those of you going to the game, get there early. It takes awhile to get 30,000+ people onto the campus and into the Dome.

On the bright side, the women's team beat Seton Hall 81-72. More on the game after I write a paper for CFS 362: Youths, Schooling, and the Pop culture (Yes that class actually exists and yes it is a part of the education program at Syracuse).