The debate over which school truly is New York’s college team is settled, if only for one more year.
Fueled by an impressive performance on both ends of the floor, No. 2 Syracuse (23-1, 10-1) took control midway through the first half and never looked back in a 95-70 rout of St. John’s (10-13, 4-7) at Madison Square Garden. Five players scored in double figures for the Orange, led by 14 points each from Fab Melo, Dion Waiters and C.J. Fair. Kris Joseph and freshman Michael Carter-Williams chipped in with thirteen each on a day where Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim moved into a third-place tie on the all-time wins list, joining Hall of Famer Dean Smith with 879 career victories.
“I thought we did a better job on the boards than we had been,” said Boeheim after the game. “I thought one thing we did well in the second half was pass the ball. Our ball movement was good the whole game.”
Despite the crushing defeat, St. John’s got a game-high 23 points from D’Angelo Harrison and some praise from the opposing coach.
“I’m impressed with the way St. John’s has played with so many young guys,” Boeheim said. “I don’t know how you can do that with five freshmen. I think what they’ve done is extraordinary.”
St. John’s remains in midtown Manhattan for their next game, a back end of a home-and-home series with Cincinnati. In the meantime, here is a look at the lasting impressions from today’s battle for Empire State bragging rights.
Lasting Impressions
– St. John’s simply ran into a buzzsaw against Syracuse this afternoon, and there is no getting around it. Once the Orange recovered from an early 7-2 deficit by going on a 10-0 run that gave them the lead for good, the second-ranked team in the nation put on a show for a largely partisan Syracuse crowd in what amounted to a de facto home game that ultimately sold out at the box office.
– It seems as though D’Angelo Harrison has regained his shooting touch after games against Marquette and USF where he was severely limited. Harrison is really starting to resemble last year’s hero Dwight Hardy both in on-court performance and quiet confidence, which he backed up today with 23 points.
– The evolution of Phil Greene at point guard has been a critical factor in the Red Storm’s success. Greene only has two more wins than Nurideen Lindsey, but enjoyed another solid night with 12 points and only two turnovers.
– Finally, no one man deserved the game ball all for themselves, so it will be shared among two Syracuse players: senior forward Kris Joseph (13 points and 8 rebounds) and freshman guard Michael Carter-Williams, whose career high of 13 came with three three-pointers and a sweet second-half slam that was one of many "icing on the cake" moments for Syracuse this afternoon.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.