Not quite the opener we had last season, but overall an entertaining game albeit one with an inevitable ending.
Now it's time for the two-time defending tourney champs to take the floor as the fifh seeded Orange battles No. 12 Uconn in the first round for just the second time ever (SU won 86-75 in 2001).
Again, any comments or thoughts on the game or anything else can be sent to MikeRuth5@aol.com.
2:43- Jerseys aren't quite as hideous as they looked in the press release, but I still can't fathom why you'd want to change to new, tight (no slang) unis in the postseason after a successful regular season.
2:45- Jerome Dyson with an NBA three, wuh-oh.
2:47- Dyson an even deeper three, wuh-oh. 6-3.
2:48- AJ Price is cherry picking and its 8-3 Huskies. Timeout Boeheim...wuh-oh.
2:51- 8-5 at the under 16. Solid pace, good intensity, great family fun.
2:52- Who did the people at Michelob Light have to blow to get their "change will do you good" commercial on the world wide leader every 27 seconds.
2:53- Have I ever mentioned that I don't like Eric Devendorf? Because I don't like Eric Devendorf.
2:56- It's obvious that uconn shot misses the rim, but Jim Burr goes to the scorer's table to make sure just so everyone can see him. Have I mentioned I don't like Jim Burr? Because I don't like Jim Burr. 10-9 Uconn.
2:58- Jerome Dyson, electric. 12-9 Uconn with Thabeet headed to the stripe.
3:00- Andy Rautins has caught fire at the right time of the season. Rautins for three 15-14 Uconn.
3:01- Dyson (8) and Devendorf (6) are the leading scorers at the under 12 timeout.
3:04- Marcus Johnson picks off a Rautins pass and takes it the length of the floor for an and-one. Misses the free-throw and its 17-14 Calhouns.
3:06- Connecticut playing tremendous defense and the whole team looks energized. 21-16 Uconn.
3:08- Sweet alley-oop to Marcus Johnson. This Uconn team could have competed in the Big East. 23-18.
3:09- Jerome Dyson is unstoppable. The freshman has 12, but Nichols and Devendorf are coming alive. 25-23 Huskies at the Under eight.
3:12- Bilas is right about Dyson. When he has more mature players around him in the next few years he's going to be even better. He's awfully good as it is.
3:15- Connecticut lively on defense and running the floor effectively. This is a game they could win. 29-25.
3:17- Paul Harris loves his form fitting uniform. He isn't doing all that much in the box score, but he's jumping around everywhere. Could be the jersey, could be meth, it's anyone's guess.
3:18- Demetris Nichols buries another three. Best catch-and-shoot guy in the country. 31-28.
3:20- Bilas talks about something I've been saying for years, which it that when college guys play on a floor with the NBA three-point line behind the college one, they instinctively take deeper shots. Dejuan Wheat never played well on these types of floors because he was always shooting from near the NBA line.
3:21- Nichols on fire, this is bad news for Uconn because when he's hitting it doesn't matter how well you guard him. 32-31 Uconn with 3:36 in the half.
3:26- Harris with a sweet dish on the break to Devendorf for a lay-in and 'Cuse has the lead.
3:27- Jim Calhoun loves scotch. I have nothing to base this on, but looking at him it has to be true.
3:28- Jeff Adrien with a jumper at the stripe. You have to love his game, plus his multi-colored mouth piece is really cool. 34-33 Uconn. Fun game.
3:30- Devendorf and Dyson engaging in some serious trash talking in the last minute.
3:32- Uconn 38, Syracuse 36 at the break. Devendorf (15) and Nichols (9) were the leading scorers for the Orange while Dyson (12) and Price (9) led the way for the Huskies. The Big East Tournament, old rivals and a brisk up-and-down pace is a recipe for afternoon fun.
3:49- Rautins with a steal and Devo with a lay-in to start the half. 38-38.
3:50- Two trips and two turnovers for the Huskies, Devendorf to the rack for two and Cuse takes the lead back. Timeout Uconn.
3:51- Carlos Mencia is a douche.
3:53- Adrien misses a lay-in, the Uconn bounce is totally gone right now.
3:54- Uconn finally gets the ball into the middle of the Cuse zone and the result is a Marcus johnson jumper. Goaltending on Thabeet on the other end keeps the Orange advantage at two.
3:56- Marcus Johnson just got called for a foul 75 feet away from where the action was going on. He then goes to Jim Burr (who didn't make the call) and asks how that can be a foul to which Burr responds with shrugged shoulders: "I don't know."
3:57- Nichols drils another three and Connecticut turns it over on the other end. 45-40 Syracuse at the under 16. This is more like what we expected.
4:01- I love Raftery
McDonough: "I think the computerized arrows are a little better than your illustrations Bill."
Raftery: "Yeah, but they haven't been through what I've been through."
4:02- Dyson with a much needed three-point play, but Rautins responds with a trey on the other end. 48-43.
4:04- Uconn getting completely outhustled and outplayed. They might make a run but I don't think they're going to grab the lead again. 52-43 with Roberts headed to the line for two. Three straight offensive boards for Syracuse.
4:08- The Huskies aren't even going for defensive rebounds anymore, they're just standing there and then grabbing Syracuse players by the arm when they go up for put-backs.
4:09- Nichols for three and it's 56-45 at the under 12. Three-peat???
4:12- Syracuse looking like a different team, of course so does Connecticut, but it's a good thing for only one of them. Nichols with his sixth three and it's 61-46.
4:14- Dyson yelling at Jeff Adrien for dogging it in transition, and he should. Adrien isn't working at all, it's embarrassing.
4:16- Adrien gets T'd up after getting upset over a no-call. This one's done son.
4:18- Don't be surprised if this one gets really chippy here in the last 62-48, Uconn is really frustrated and Calhoun is going ballistic.
4:19- Calhoun T'd up.
4:20- Both technicals have come after awul no-calls. Meanwhile Uconn's getting called for everything on the other end. Someone's going to get Hansbroughed.
4:21- Bahahaha. Calhoun kicked the Big East logo on the scorer's tabe and left a visible dent. 64-48 with 8:40 to play by the way.
4:23- Wiggins' three cuts the lead to 12, no way they get any closer than six.
4:25- OK, the intro/outro song this year is acceptable (it's not "Remember the Name" like last year so that's cool), but these random shots of the dancers in Big East jerseys has got to stop. I enjoy seeing Palacios on the back of the Louisville jersey, as I'm sure he does, but these guys suck.
4:27- Thabeet fouls out and Calhoun's jacket comes off. A Calhoun cam would make this game three times as fun.
4:29- Uconn gets 65 offensive rebounds and a steal but still can't score. It's gross.
4:31- Rautins takes a three, everyone for Uconn forgets that rebounding is part of the game and Roberts gets a wide-open follow-up dunk. 70-54.
4:33- I don't have the stats in front of me but I'm pretty sure Uconn hasn't scored this half.
4:35- Nichols is 7-of-11 from three and has 27 points. 75-60 Cuse after a Paul Harris turnover and Jeff Adrien dunk.
4:37- Uconn turns it other with their press for the second and third consecutive times and all of the sudden it's a 9-0 run and a 75-65 game with 2:33 to play. It's still over.
4:42- Wiggins just missed a three that got stuck between the top of the backboard and the shot block. Pretty cool. 77-65 with two minutes left.
4:46- My God Connecticut can't shoot. Even with the game out of hand Devendorf sucks in the last minute, got a shot blocked and turned it over.
4:47- Syracuse wins its eighth straight Big East Tournament game (one shy of the record) 78-65.
4:48- Well, the first halves of both games were fun. The second session kicks off at 7 with Providence and West Virginia in a battle to see who will face Louisville.
Time for a breather.