'Cuse finishes off Jesuit trip 3-2

It helped to play Providence and then DePaul before seeking revenge against Villanova, but the Wildcats just lied down and let the citric acid slowly burn their eyes to extend their double-digit losing streak to 4 (Rutgers among the lucky ones, and Greg Schiano wasn't coaching!). Nova started out 10-12 from the field to get a 24-13 lead, and they had assists on 8 of 10 field goals, but Flynn, Greene, and especially Harris just went off and 'Cuse went on a 21-3 run and took a 44-39 halftime lead (almost was 42-39 until Rick Jackson got his second buzzer-beater putback of the year). The second half was all Syracuse all the time. Nova seemed to threaten, but could never take a lead, and Johnny Flynn hit a floater with 1:41 left to give the Orange an 80-68 advantage, with some harm provided by Reggie Redding. After landing, Flynn turned his goose head follow through into a wave to the Nova fans who made the 20 mile journey to what turned out to be a Syracuse home game for the last 3 minutes. Paul Harris, a year after "the dunk," provided a career-high 28 points with ONLY 7 boards, Donte was 5-11 (3-7 on 3) for 17 and grabbed 7 rebounds, and Johnny Flynn, despite a 3:6 assist to turnover ratio, managed to score a ridiculous 24 (8-11 from the field, 7-9 from the line), many of which came in the first half as he kept Syracuse in the game by answering every Nova bucket with a coast-to-coast lay-up each time. And I believe I saw Johnny block a jumper by Corey Fisher, Nova's only bright spot.
Arinze had his worst game of the year, as smaller Nova players were able to bully him, driving him to a technical foul and only 3 points and 4 fouls. Scottie Reynolds looked nothing like the player I remember, as he hit all of his 3s with the game already in Syracuse's hands.
How about Kristof's parents (Kristof played pretty damn well with 12 points, including a 3 to beat an expiring shot clock in the 2nd half, and 5 rebounds) paying $600 for a cab to the Dome to see their son play after missing their connection from NYC to Syracuse after a flight from Belgium. That's dedication, Holmes. I wish they could have seen their son play his best game of the year in Philly. And Scoop, welcome back! Len Elmore didn't go into what you actually did, but it helps that Nova fans aren't into the whole taunting chants thing (Jesuits!).
The zone was awesome. My friend Steve always references the Oklahoma Elite Eight game in 2003 as the game that made him believe in the zone. If he ever needed reassurance of its power, today was that game. Weak sides were cut off, Donte and Kristof used their length to discourage skip passes, and collapsed well to prevent weak side passes on penetration. Nova managed only 22 rebounds, only 7 of those on offense. Although Nova plays a damn small lineup, they couldn't penetrate and kick successfully, and their big men were not ready to handle the high post, meaning they were just winging it every time down the floor. Nova has already lost 2 at the Wachovia Center this year, a venue that was essential to their #1 seed and Elite Eight berth in 2006 (their first and second round NCAA games were played there). When they can't hold it down you know they are having a tough time, especially since 2 of those losses have come in their last 3 games.
Doug Gottlieb said the craziest thing I've ever heard. As Ben still refers to him as the resident Syracuse hater at ESPN, I could not believe my ears when he said, and I kid you not, "Syracuse is in the tournament right now." I'm pretty sure he meant NCAA, but he could have meant the Big East? Anyways he continued on about how they needed to win today to not have a Nova sweep tarnish their resume. Wow. Supportive words for Syracuse from Doug Gottlieb, the first I've heard from him since after Syracuse won it all, and that lasted about 5 minutes.
Anyways, Super Bowl is tomorrow, so I have to get some work done, but chew on this, Kimbo Slice: Syracuse is tied for 3rd in the Big East right now, SUCKA! UConn on Wednesday in the Dome (rivalry week) and then the Wednesday after a trip to Tampa to take on South Florida.
Almost forgot: Penn is 1-0 in the Ivy League with a 73-69 victory over Tommy Amaker's Harvard squad. Fuck you, Bianca! I guess Tyler Bernadini is all go-to guy and shit like that. Cem Dinc, Amaker's Turkish whirling dervish, played one minute and missed a shot. Only 6 more wins until .500, can you handle it, Glen? Or will FireGlenMiller.com become a sad reality? Funny note: my Sports Industry Professor said close to no one used godaddy to buy a domain name after seeing the commercial, they just went to see some boob (that was paraphrased). I guess I am in the demographic "close to no one."