Orange Scouting Report

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Who's hot for Syracuse

In Syracuse's four games prior to the NCAA Tournament, Scoop Jardine failed to reach double-figure scoring and averaged just 3.7 points. But in the Orange's three NCAA Tournament wins, Jardine has scored 11, 16 and 14 points against UNC Asheville, Kansas State and Wisconsin.



Three points

Observations from an assistant coach familiar with the Ohio State Buckeyes:

1. "Syracuse has to continue to run its half-court offense like it did against Kansas State and Wisconsin. They can't settle for shots. They need to share the ball and get everyone involved."

2. "Clearly, the matchup with Jared Sullinger is key. Don't let him dominate the paint. The forwards have to support Rakeem Christmas and Baye Keita in the paint and on the backside of the zone."

3. "The seniors, Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph, have got to make plays. Syracuse is so much better when Jardine and Joseph play well. Fair took Joseph's place against Wisconsin. Joseph has to do better than two rebounds against Ohio State."


Key Buckeye

Aaron Craft is a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard who averages 8.9 points and 4.7 assists.

Assistant's take: "Jared Sullinger's the All-American and he could really hurt Syracuse, but Aaron Craft's the key for Ohio State. He's going to run the team and get them into their zone sets and get them organized. He'll be on the ball defensively. He could bother Jardine at the point."

Stray fact

Syracuse and Ohio State have met one time in the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse was seeded 6th in the East Region, while the Buckeyes were the 3-seed. Ohio State, which featured Tony Campbell and Granville Waiters, earned a 79-74 victory and advanced to the East Regional in Syracuse.

 

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Syracuse men's basketball 40 minutes from Final Four

Syracuse men's basketball 40 minutes from Final Four

After all of the controversies off the court and all of the wins on it, here are the Syracuse Orange, 40 minutes away from the Final Four.

Through 36 games and 34 victories of a record-breaking season, they have been resilient, resourceful and, at times, the talk of college basketball for good reasons and bad. But coach Jim Boeheim and his team are here, on the precipice of their sport?s biggest stage, because of a belief in who they are and what they can do ? even without ineligible 7-foot center Fab Melo.

?We know,? Syracuse junior guard Brandon Triche said, ?if we play well we?ll be able to be in this game and be able to beat these guys.?

March Madness can sometimes be about Cinderella. More often it?s about two big-time programs slugging it out with everything on the line. That?s what happens Saturday night at TD Garden, as top-seeded Syracuse University (34-2) plays No. 2 Ohio State (30-7) for a spot in the Final Four in New Orleans. Tip-off is at 7:05 p.m.

?This is what you come to college for. You come to be a part of these games,? Orange forward Kris Joseph said after Friday?s closed practice. ?It?s going to be a tough one.?

Maybe the toughest, although Thursday?s 64-63 escape over hot-shooting Wisconsin was far from easy. The fourth-seeded Badgers turned the ball over just six times and hit 14 3-pointers, but SU still found a way to win. Ohio St., which also hails from the Big Ten, is better. The league co-champions can match SU?s athleticism and talent, but not its depth or experience.

The Buckeyes are led by 6-feet-9, 265-pound forward and National Player of the Year candidate Jared Sullinger; point guard and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Craft; and explosive forward DeShaun Thomas. They?re all sophomores who were on last season?s team that lost in the regional semifinals.

?They?ve got great scorers. They?ve got tremendous size and physical strength and rebounding,? Boeheim said. ?I think they?re the best team I?ve seen all year long in terms of total makeup and what they do.?

Sullinger is a force. SU hasn?t seen a big man of his caliber. He averages 17.6 points and 9.2 rebounds.

Thomas averages 16.2 points, and although senior swingman William Buford has struggled lately, he averages 14.4 points. Craft averages 8.9 points, 4.7 assists, 2.5 steals and just 2.2 turnovers. Thomas and Buford each shoot about 36 percent on 3s.

As a team, the Buckeyes make only 33 percent, so they probably won?t light up SU?s 2-3 zone like Wisconsin did, but they?ll be better in the paint and taking it to the rim.

Ohio St. throttled No. 6 Cincinnati, 81-66, on Thursday behind Sullinger?s 23 points and 11 rebounds and 26 points from Thomas, who scored 20 points in the first half alone.

Cincinnati is one of the two teams to beat SU, ousting the regular-season Big East champions in the conference tournament semifinals, 71-68.

?(They are) perfectly constructed to be a great college basketball team and they are. We know that. We?ve prepared for it,? Boeheim said of Ohio St.

Coach Thad Matta, whose 2007 team was national runner-up to Florida, said the Buckeyes have come together after times when Craft said players ?pointed fingers? and ?splintered apart.?

?This is the worst practice team I?ve ever coached,? Matta proclaimed in mid-December.

Just like past foes, Sullinger, Craft & Co. talked about Ohio St. doesn?t see much zone defense in the Big Ten and how it?ll need to work inside and to break down SU?s zone.

?We can?t just sit back and let them punch us. We?ve got to throw the first punches,? Sullinger said.

But what about SU?

?We have to stay in attack mode, make Jared Sullinger guard us. Nobody?s talking about that,? point guard Scoop Jardine said, sounding like the Orange are a little insulted by the lack of attention that topic generates.

Ohio St. has a few weapons that can hurt teams. The Orange have more, including seniors Joseph and Jardine, forward C.J. Fair, guard Dion Waiters and junior swingman James Southerland off the bench. The key may be how 6-9 freshman center Rakeem Christmas and 6-10 sophomore Baye Keita handle Sullinger.

Christmas has played AAU ball against Sullinger in the past. He and Keita have taken turns playing well since Melo, the Big East Defensive Player of the Year, was ruled ineligible by SU two days before the tournament started.

Oddsmakers have Ohio St. favored slightly even though the seeding suggests otherwise. So if SU needs something more to tack onto its bulletin board full of those who discounted them without Melo, there?s another.

?There?s no pressure on us. They didn?t expect us to be here anyways,? Jardine said of skeptics. ?They took all the pressure off us by counting us out.?