On Wednesday night, the Hoyas delivered a true punch to the gut. The worst possible storm of a hot shooting night by the opposition and a freezing cold night by the good guys hit the Orange hard. A true opportunity for cleansing comes Saturday afternoon when the Irish come to Syracuse. Notre Dame has a couple nice wins already against Texas and Georgetown, but they are very beatable on the road, having dropped games at Louisville and St. John’s.

The Carrier Dome is sure to be rockin’ and ‘Cuse fans are licking their chops for this one with ticket sales in the area of 30,000. The Dome Dog-toting spectators may very well hold the keys to this one. But will it be able to revive the “Just Like Football” clap clap clap-clap-clap chant?

Luke Harangody and guard/doobie brother Kyle McAlarney are deservedly getting a lot of dap for their scoring ability. The two combine for over 40 points and nearly half of the team’s scoring output, and SU can’t forget about Notre Dame’s other perimeter threat, Ryan Ayers. If Andy Rautins shows no signs of his injury sustained against Georgetown, well, it might not be a bad idea to take the over.

One burning question on the minds of many Orange faithful is whether Syracuse can win a shootout if it can’t stop the potent Irish attack. I say it can, but it will require a highly balanced effort. Arinze Onuaku can’t vanish offensively like he has against Georgetown, Virginia and Memphis. The onus is on him to finish, but it’s also on the guards to look for him and not turn the game into a biggest ego contest by chucking contested threes and driving into crowded lanes.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 17th, 2009 at 1:42 am by Brian G. . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.