The 2009-10 season was an unforgettable one for Steve Donahue’s Cornell squad. On their way to a Sweet 16 berth, including a tournament game in Syracuse, the Big Red beat Alabama, UMass, Temple, Wisconsin, St. John’s and put a scare into Kansas on the Jayhawks’ home floor.

Once the season ended, however, things changed in a way that is to be expected from successful teams from non-Power Six conferences: The robust senior class led by Ryan Witman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote graduated. Donahue made a major leap to helm the program at Boston College. Back in Ithaca, in stepped Bill Courtney from Virginia Tech and several players began the transition from bench player to starter. This team is night and day from last season’s squad.

At 2-4, Cornell has lost some close games and gutted out a couple decent, but no one they have played to this point has the firepower of their tough schedule from last season. Despite the non-con sluggishness by SU, Tuesday night’s game against the Orange presents one of the toughest challenges the Big Red will face all season, the other being upstart Minnesota later this week.

Like last season, this edition of Cornell is more comfortable in a game at a slow-to-moderate pace, not forcing themselves into a track meet. They average around 70 possessions in each of their last four games, a rate that keeps them fresh on defense, where they have allowed just 66 points per game. They’ve also let up less than one point per defensive possession in all but one contest so far (a loss to Seton Hall).

The key for SU is to get Cornell running more than they want to with defensive pressure to create turnovers and easy transition opportunities. The Orange will also be able to get ahead by cleaning up on the glass like they should (the Big Red averages a measly 28.5 rebounds per game). However, SU must balance their comfort running with smart decisions from Scoop Jardine, who runs the backcourt. Scoop has shot just 8-37 in his last three games; while SU is trying to find scoring consistency, I’m fairly confident that Jardine putting up 12 shots a game isn’t going to improve the team in the long run. Brandon Triche also needs to continue to be assertive. Against Georgia Tech, he posted his highest scoring total since his 16-point game against Canisius, which came on the heels of Jim Boeheim calling for him to be more aggressive.

In the frontcourt, look for Kris Joseph to become more consistent when matched against undersized 6’4 senior Max Groebe. In the paint, Rick Jackson should have a field day with Adam Wire, who hardly qualifies as a forward checking in at 6’5. While bigger opponents will eventually mitigate Baye Moussa Keita’s effectiveness, Tuesday will not be one of those times. The mismatches across the paint way so heavily in SU’s favor that even Fab Melo should be able to make some kind of positive impact.

Though the Carrier Dome surface will be different Saturday, SU hoops is back at the Dome, if only for one night until next week. As someone who endured the first three years of the Robinson era from ground zero, I’m just as excited as the next guy that Doug Marrone is leading SU football back to relevance in a hurry; It just doesn’t take away from my giddiness over the opening tip, even if it’s an exhibition game.

Tuesday night, SU coasted to a 96-60 victory over Kutztown to start the exhibition season. Jim Boeheim’s comments about the rotation going ten deep held true for the night, as all ten scholarship players posted between 15 and 23 minutes of court time. While you should be wary about drawing absolute conclusions in these outings due to the competition on the other bench, a few things jump out:

Mookie Jones: 17 minutes, 10 points, 3-9 shooting (2-7 3PT), two steals. Despite limited playing time, Mookie shot the ball more than any player not named Kris Joseph, but how surprised can you be? Of course, if I have to criticize him, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the two steals, though that statistic is somewhat flawed, as some thefts are just a matter of being in the right place at the right time when someone else strips the ball. Reports indicate that he played better in the second half than he did in the first, so maybe that’s something for him to build on.

After turning in a nice night on defense – 11 rebounds, two blocks and four steals – James Southerland is calling for consideration for a coveted rotation role off the bench, but C.J. Fair might have something to say about that. The Baltimore native led the team with 14 points, made his first 5 shots, sunk all four free throw of his attempts and pulled down four rebounds. A nice opening for the freshman.

In a wide mismatch in talent and size, Fab Melo registered four blocks and scored nine while also showing his rawness, committing five of SU’s 15 turnovers and being whistled for four fouls. He may not be dominant right out of the gate, but it’s going to be a delight watching him evolve game-by-game into a post force.

Brandon Triche put together a nifty little line which included seven assists, zero turnovers in 22 minutes of action. Scoop Jardine may be the starting point guard, but I think the team will be in good hands when he needs a breather. Elsewhere in the backcourt, Dion Waiters tried to make a strong impression out of the gate, but maybe tried too hard, going 3-9 from the floor. He’s certainly not gunshy, though he and the coaching staff have nothing but time to help rein in his shot selection.

I think we’re a long way from figuring out which candidate will assert himself as a consistent long-range threat . It’s one of the biggest questions surrounding the Orange, and the team’s ugly 5-29 performance from beyond the arc Tuesday night did nothing to make me feel otherwise. If you want to cherry-pick, Kris Joseph, Triche and Jardine combined to go 3-11 from the perimeter, but they aren’t the only possibilities.

Lastly, I was impressed by SU’s flawless 13-13 performance from the line. Nerves, crowd noise and all those things being equal, no matter who you play, the free throw is still shot from 15 feet without a defender in your face. It’s probably the most meaningful thing you can take away from an exhibition game (for what exhibition games are worth).

Next Tuesday comes the long-awaited revenge game against Le Moyne, the final exhibition matchup before Northern Iowa comes to town three days later.

Seven months and seven days after the final horn sounded in Salt Lake City to send SU home, we’re finally set for the 2010-11 season to get underway. For fans and followers, it’s the first chance to see Kris Joseph as THE man, to get the first look at Fab Melo patrolling the paint 14 months after committing to Syracuse and several accolades in the meantime; to see how the guard rotation of Scoop Jardine, Brandon Triche and Dion Waiters will shake out, and to see the green flag wave on the race for 7th man between Mookie Jones, James Southerland and darkhorse freshman CJ Fair.

It may be an exhibition game, but if I learned anything from last season, it’s that even though preseason games like tonight’s tilt against Kutztown won’t count in the standings, they’re still important to the development of the team.

Usually, exhibition games present the opportunity for a coach to bring in a former player or assistant getting his feet wet in coaching with a small program like Kutztown, based 220 miles from Syracuse. However, there aren’t any such connections to be found between the Orange and the Golden Bears – but there is one player worth pointing out to ‘Cuse fans: Devon McBride (who wears 44 on his jersey – it’s like he wants the pain to rain down on him Tuesday night), not to be confused with former Syracuse “center” Devin Brennan-McBride, whose pinnacle as a member of the Orange came when he could be accurately described as Matt Gorman’s backup in 2006-07.

Man, those days were rough.

As for the Golden Bears, they’ve been picked to finish third in Division-II’s Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference’s (PSAC) East Division, if you care about that sort of thing. Kutztown will rely on junior guard Julius Gray and junior Eric Brennan (that’s right – a Brennan AND a McBride) to outperform last season’s 23-8 record, which ended in a first-round loss in the D-II Tournament.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. EST.