The
Orange established the inside game immediately, as 258 pound center Arinze Onuaku banked one off the glass. SU’s
next basket was a two-handed flush by power forward Rick Jackson. After seven minutes, the Orange already led
12-2.
About
mid-way through the first half, the lead reached sixteen after a layup from
Johnny Flynn. The sophomore looked
absolutely electrifying in this game.
Well, I guess that’s not really much of a change from the norm. But Flynn definitely had a jump in his step,
looking fully rested after four grueling games in the Big East Tournament.
The
Lumberjacks, appearing in their first NCAA Tournament from the Southland
Conference, couldn’t find the range.
Dealing with a large disparity in height (SFA point guard Eric Bell is
the shortest player in the Big Dance at 5’ 3”), the Lumberjacks couldn’t make
shots over the long, out-stretched arms of the Syracuse 2-3 zone. SFA went 9-of-33 (27.3 percent) from the
field and did not make a three-point shot on eleven attempts.
The
Orange weren’t feeling any sympathy as guard Eric Devendorf canned SU’s first
three-pointer of the contest to increase SU’s advantage to eighteen. Minutes later, another basket by Flynn gave
Syracuse a twenty point lead, the largest of the first half.
At
the half, the Orange led 38-22 behind the scoring of Flynn and Jackson. Both had ten points each and epitomized why
SU was so dominant. The flashy point
guard used his strength and quickness to get into the lane for easy shots. Breaking down defenders also allowed Flynn to
find the big man Jackson for layups and dunks.
The good looks led to a 62.5 percent success rate on shots for the
Orange offense.
Much
of the second half was a sloppy affair, probably much to the disliking of head
coach Jim Boeheim. But there was never
any real threat to the Orange. Syracuse
opened the final twenty minutes with a 12-2 run. Onuaku made three straight baskets to start
the run, including two dunks on the fastbreak to push the lead to a game-high
26 points.
But
over the next six minutes, SU felt too comfortable with the large cushion and
let up. The Orange made only one basket
in that time period, allowing the Lumberjacks to score eleven unanswered points
to cut the deficit to fifteen. The one
hoop SU made came from Flynn, who drove down the lane and gave a ball fake that
froze the SFA defender.
In
the ten minutes that followed Flynn’s flashy move, the Orange would only score
seven points to finish the game.
Syracuse turned the ball over 12 times in the second half, committing 21
for the game. Also, SU managed to make
only two treys for the entire game, going 2-of-16 on the day. The Lumberjacks actually outscored SU by a
point in the second half, but it was cruise control for the Orange as it wins
the first round match-up.
Some other
observations from Syracuse’s 59-44 win over Stephen F. Austin:
· The reason for
Syracuse’s late season success has been its defense. Today was another solid performance. The Orange held the Lumberjacks to 25 percent
shooting, including a 2-for-21 performance from beyond the arc. SFA actually missed thirteen of its first
fourteen shots. Leading scorer and
Southland Conference Player of the Year Matt Kingsley was held to two points on
1-of-8 shooting.
· The Lumberjacks
couldn’t cut down the Orange colored trees placed in front of them. Syracuse tied a team-tournament record with
eleven blocked shots. Also, the 44
points allowed by the Orange was the second-lowest total allowed by an SU
team. In 1992, the ‘Cuse only allowed 43
points to Princeton.
· Flynn led the way for
the ‘Cuse with sixteen points and dished out seven assists. His 426 career assists puts him past Leo
Rautins (423) for eighth place on the school’s all-time list.
· Along with Flynn,
three others scored in double-figures for the Orange. Jackson recorded a double-double with twelve
points and ten rebounds. The sophomore
also swatted away five shots, tying a career-high. Fellow big man Onuaku dropped in twelve
points and snatched seven boards.
Roommate Devendorf added ten points for the Orange attack.
· Junior Paul Harris
apparently jammed the thumb on his left hand during the second half and had
x-rays taken after the game. Harris
looked fine though, scoring six points and pulling down sixteen boards. That’s only three rebounds shy of Derrick Coleman’s school-record nineteen rebounds in the 1987 title game against
Indiana.
· Senior Kristof Ongenaet did not play in this game as the Belgian is suffering from flu-like
symptoms. His roommate and senior
walk-on Justin Thomas was also sick and could not even join the team on the
bench, staying at the team’s hotel room.
Syracuse
(27-9) looks to make its first Sweet Sixteen trip since 2004 when it beat
Maryland in the round of 32. The third
seeded Orange plays the sixth seed Arizona State on Sunday.