SU Tops UF, 2003 Title Game Rematch Awaits
SU passed its first true test of the year Monday night, beating Florida 89-83 in front of a sparse crowd at the CBE Classic in Kansas City. The high-scoring affair on both sides confirmed two theories I’ve had about this team for awhile: it can score at will, and the Orange aren’t quite there yet on the defensive end. Flynn, Devendorf and Onuaku combined for just nine points in the first half, but thanks to Paul Harris’ mid-range j and Andy Rautins’ long ball resurgence, SU not only led by three at the break, but tallied 41 points in doing so.
Flynn finally came alive in the second half, putting up 16 points and added some free throws towards the end to help ice the game. From the bench, Kris Joseph continues to impress, and tonight he scored ten points and coralled five boards in a personal season-best 26 minutes of court time. I thought Ongenaet would get more than 11 minutes tonight due to the attention Dan Werner commands from beyond the arc, but Werner was in foul trouble all night and Syracuse needed Joseph to help maintain the pace on offense.
Ongenaet’s minutes are quickly decreasing: since playing for 24 minutes against Richmond, KO was on the floor for 17 against Oakland and tonight just 11. Joseph is clearly forcing his hand and depending how he fares against a KU team that looked very good tonight, a starting role may be closer than most fans think.
Once again, SU put on a cardiac show at the charity stripe yet again with a paltry 59.4% showing. Things got dicey towards the end, but a great defensive showing in the last couple minutes denied Florida a go-ahead posession. There were a couple other glaring disappointments, but these could very well be fixed by tomorrow night. The first was Paul Harris’ turnovers. Paul registered his second double-double of the season, but his unforced mistakes led to the game being unneccesarily close. I don’t think this matchup was ever going to be a blowout like the Oakland and Le Moyne games, but the ‘Cuse should’ve had this one sewn up earlier.
Devo going 3-12 from the field and 1-6 from the stripe (yes, he did make the trip) was another troubling aspect in the win. There couldn’t have been more than 4,000 people in attendance for SU-Florida, so maybe it’s a case of him needing motivation from a big crowd and tough opposing team. That being said, the Sprint Center turned into Allen Fieldhouse East for the second semifinal, with Jayhawk fans filling an overwhelming majority of the arena’s 18,500 seats, so Eric won’t have any excuses Tuesday night. While Bill Self, Cole Aldrich, Sherron Collins and the rest of the KU team had nothing to do with the 2003 title game, the hometown crowd is starving for revenge.
