Follow The Fizz on Twitter for the latest SU basketball news
In perhaps its biggest game of the season, the no. 2 Orange trailed 25 – 7 to the no. 8 Wildcats almost midway through the first half. All signs pointed to Villanova crushing SU and for the program to drop its first game of the season. Not quite the outcome, as Syracuse erupted with a 20 – 0 run to overcome the large deficit to beat ‘Nova 78 – 62.
The quick hitters from Saturday’s win:
Trevor Cooney continues to wow SU fans. For the seventh time this season, the redshirt sophomore swapped at least five three-pointers in a single game. Cooney finished with 21 points on 5 of 8 shooting from deep. He’s arguably the Orange’s X-Factor heading into ACC competition. Cooney scored 11 of the 20 SU points on the scoring run in the first half. Recall how often Cooney was criticized and questioned last season for his streaky performances. His hot start has shocked the fan base. Syracuse needs him to continue to get open once conference play begins.
Nova’s 3-pt shooting went from wishful to woeful. The Wildcats got off to a fast start thanks to their sharp shooting. They began the contest four of four from behind the arc, but finished the game 10 of 31. Thirty-two percent shooting from deep doesn’t sound bad, but the quick outburst should be noted. Guard James Bell knocked in 6-of-12 from three.
When the pressure mounts, Tyler Ennis is calm and cool. Ennis entered Saturday off back-to-back two turnover games against St. John’s and High Point. The freshman sensation columned a goose egg against Villanova and also scored 20 points in the victory. He logged just one turnover against Indiana and none against then-no. 18 Baylor. Nothing has extremely fazed Ennis early in his young career. If his strong ability to protect the rock translates to ACC play, Ennis undoubtedly has a shot at Rookie of the Year and keeps Syracuse in serious contention.
Front-court struggles continue from last season. Around this time last year, it had to be noted how ineffective the play of Syracuse’s bigs was. Dajuan Coleman and Rakeem Christmas combined to play 21 minutes Saturday. Together, they totaled just three points, four rebounds and a blocked shot. When will the big man production ever resurrect for the Orange. Most Syracuse fans have moved on from Rak becoming a dominant inside presence. But many thought Coleman would emerge this season. Thankfully Baye Moussa Keita has stepped up off the bench for the most part. It’s not panic time yet, but Boeheim and company should at least be concerned with the frontline. Adjustments need to be made.
The nation’s biggest on-campus crowd was on hand despite no students. 28,135 fans filled the Carrier Dome to witness these former Big East partners do battle. Pretty impressive stuff to have this many fans even when the students are on break. Obviously no one predicted this game to be a battle of unbeaten and a top-10 matchup. The surrounding towns and cities of Syracuse have some dedicated fans that still help the Dome remain a powerhouse and a special venue to play in.
A quick turnaround for SU as it hosts Eastern Michigan on New Year’s Eve to close out its non-conference schedule. A 12 – 0 start is awfully good, but now as the new year approaches, Syracuse becomes really tested once ACC play begins.
Posted by: Brendan Glasheen 
7 responses to “Winded Wildcats: Quick Hitters From Syracuse‚Äôs Rally To Beat Villanova”
Yeah great win for ‘Cuse. Good test in ‘Nova.
Your right about the 3’s, but that always seems to happen in every opponent ‘Cuse plays at the dome. Opponents come out draining 3’s beyond NBA range or a power forward banking in a 3 with 1 second on the shot clock.
I think I’m just going to be interested to see how the 2-3 zone plays against ACC teams this year.
When a team comes into a game and drops 3′ like Nova was doing the real question is how long will it continue before the basket closes up.?Will the lead be too big to recover? The Orange was fortunate that it came to life about the same time that Nova started to fade and the lead was manageable. Great game because the good guys won.
Bring on the ACC. Baylor, Villanova, etc are very good teams and we should hold our own.
Why do people continue this fallacy that we NEED to have scoring from the centers? Christmas is shooting like 80% from the field and 75% from the foul line. How in God’s name is that struggling? Please tell me why we would take shots away from the big 4 just so we can have a center try and get 10 points. You’ve lost me here. There is literally nothing to criticize right now.
@Dcuse;
the center’s job on any team in basketball is to control the boards getting most of the rebounds,shutting down the lane to the opposing teams and if possible score maybe 6-10 points per game if possible. They’re not there to score 20-25 points per game,that’s what the other 4 guys on the team are there for.
there are a lot of people who see guys like Ennis,Cooney,Fair and Grant score and don’t understand why whomever is in center can’t do the same thing.
The frontcourt isn’t really struggling as much as you would think. Fair and grant have been stellar, all dominating defensively, Christmas is much improved offensively just hasn’t been getting a lot of touches, and Coleman will be a double double machine once he gets healthy and the season progresses. This team is looking special already and there are still areas in which they will improve as the year goes on. They have all the same positives from previous great su teams (since 2010 team) yet are way better in the spots those teams were weak. Half court offense, rebounding, and three point shooting are major strengths unlike the last few years. Defense was a little weak but is getting stronger and stronger and will become one of the nations best. So much upside and room for growth. I see the “weak” frontcourt getting better and better. Fair and grant have far from played to their best, ennis will keep improving, gbinje will become a scoring threat, Keita and Xmas will become elite shot blockers, and the zone will kill acc competition. As of now this team is looking better then the rautins/ Wes j team pre AOinjury. Also seen a lot of zona play n su looks better too.
I agree about Purdue, the Hummel loss is devastating. I rakend Purdue 8 spots below the USA Today Poll, I don’t know what they were thinking or why they have so much confidence in the Boilermakers. And to your Nova comment, I’ll chalk it up to your La Salle love and your Nova disdain haha.