Fox40 News Highights (click here) Second Half Defense Pushes No. 9 Syracuse Past Cornell, 88-73
CornellBigRed.com
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse's defense put the clamps down in the second half after a Big Red 3-point barrage in the first, pulling away late for an 88-73 victory over Cornell on Tuesday evening at the Carrier Dome. The loss was the second straight to a Big East squad and dropped Cornell to 2-2 overall, while the ninth-ranked Orange improved to 5-0.
Senior Ryan Wittman scored 19 points and hit three 3-pointers to surpass Princeton's Brian Earl for the Ivy League career record, ending the night with 282. He added five rebounds and two assists in the loss and became the second player in school history to reach the 1,500-point mark. Sophomore Chris Wroblewski scored 20 points, including 17 in the first half, and drained six 3-pointers. That came after a career-high 22-point night against Seton Hall in his last outing. Jeff Foote notched a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman Errick Peck had career highs of eight points, six rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes off the bench. Cornell held a narrow 36-35 edge on the backboards.
Syracuse's defense limited the Big Red to 39 percent shooting after halftime and 41 percent for the game, and after the visitors connected on 9-of-19 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, were limited to 4-of-18 after the break. Freshman Brandon Triche had 21 points, while Wes Johnson notched 15 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in the win. Andy Rautins added 18 points and Kris Joseph had 13 points, five steals and four rebounds, including a thunderous alley-oop dunk the in second half that punctuated the victory. SU shot 51 percent from the floor, made 9-of-18 from beyond the arc and was 23-of-28 from the free throw line.
Cornell put a scare into the Orange at the half, trailing just 42-36 after hitting nine 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Wroblewski hit 6-of-7 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc for a game-best 17 points. Both Wittman and Geoff Reeves added six apiece. Syracuse got 10 points from Andy Rautins and nine points and five rebounds from Wes Johnson. The Orange shot 52 percent from the floor and connected on 5-of-10 from beyond the arc themselves, but were nearly neutralized by Cornell's 47 percent from beyond 3-point range. The lead changed 11 times in the first half, but the home team's 16-6 edge in the paint and its 10-2 advantage on fastbreak points was too much for the Big Red to overcome.
Dale opened the game with a 3-pointer 40 seconds into the contest to get the Big Red on the scoreboard, followed by five straight points by Wroblewski for Cornell to put the visitors up 8-5 at the first media timeout. The Orange heated up, hitting three 3-pointers in a two-minute span, including a pair by Rautins, but Cornell used the trey to stay in the game. Reeves and Wroblewski each made one, while Foote was able to put back a Wittman miss to take a 16-15 lead. A bomb by Johnson put the Orange back in front at 18-16 with 12:06 left.
SU extended the lead to five at 24-19, but Wroblewski continued his hot shooting by draining his fourth 3-pointer of the half to make it 24-22 with 9:14 remaining. Despite the Big Red continuing to be hot from outside, with Wittman hitting a long 3-pointer at the end of a shot clock to make it 28-27 Cornell, SU took control with a 7-0 run to regain the advantage and extend its lead to 34-28. Cornell got back within 40-36 and stopped an initial possession by the Orange at the end of the half, but Johnson was able to scoop up a loose ball after an errant pass and put it back in to send SU into the locker room with a 42-36 edge.
Syracuse built the lead to nine (50-41) after answering a trey by Wroblewski and a putback by Foote with 3-pointers by Rautins, his fourth of the game, and Brandon Triche. A three-point play on an acrobatic layup by Triche and a contested 3-pointer by Rautins made it 56-41 and put the Orange comfortably ahead. The lead grew to 20 (63-43) before the Big Red was able to make a mini-run. Errick Peck hit a layup and was fouled, and after Cornell got to an offensive rebound off the missed free throw, Wittman hit his second 3-pointer of the game to match the Ivy League record for 281 career treys with 11:33 left in the contest.
Cornell got it back to 14, but five quick points on the other end for Triche brought the Big Red deficit to 69-50 with under eight minutes to play. The highlight of the final minutes was Wittman draining a 3-pointer with 2:23 left to establish a new Ivy League record with his 283nd shot from long range in his career.
The decisive blow came with Cornell trailing 50-41, before Cornell turned the ball over on four straight possessions. The Orange took advantage and were down 18 (59-41) before Wittman got the Big Red back into its offense with a driving layup.
Syracuse saw a 23-point lead knocked down to 15, and Cornell had three opportunities with momentum to get closer in the final three minutes for a last charge, but it never was able to come.
The Big Red will continue play at the Legends Classic when it faces Toledo on Friday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. at Drexel.
Triche Nets Career-Best 21 Points in 88-73 Victory
Syracuse Athletics
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Freshman guard Brandon Triche led #10/9 Syracuse to an 88-73 victory against in-state foe Cornell with a career-best 21 points at the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night.
Syracuse employed a balanced attack with nine players scoring and four in double-figures. Triche led the Orange, going 8-for-13 from the floor and 3-for-6 from long range in his career performance while corralling three rebounds. Senior guard Andy Rautins was second on the team with 18 points, on 5-for-8 shooting and 5-for-7 from three-point land.
Junior Wes Johnson had 15 points, while controlling the boards with a game-best 10 rebounds. Junior forward Rick Jackson aided Johnson in the paint, tallying nine boards while sophomore Kris Joseph paired 13 points with four rebounds while collecting a game-high five steals.
Johnson also helped to direct the Syracuse offense, dishing out a team-best four assists while Rautins, Joseph and sophomore guard Scoop Jardine each had three.
Sophmore guard Chris Wroblewski led the Big Red with 20 points on 7-for-15 from the floor and 6-for-12 from three-point range while senior forward Ryan Wittman had 19.
Cornell was able to keep pace with the Orange early due to its on the mark shooting from behind the arc, with 27 of its 36 first half points coming from three’s. Syracuse employed a well-balanced attack on the other end of the floor, with all seven different players that entered the game recording points.
The game heated up with SU leading, 24-22, with 6:57 remaining in the first half. In the course of one minute, the two teams exchanged the lead four times. Cornell’s Jeff Reeves connected from three-point range to give the Big Red a 25-24 lead before Onuaku recorded a hoop and the harm, swinging the lead back to the Orange, 27-25. A three by Ryan Wittman gave Cornell a 28-27 lead, but Onauku converted from down low, reasserting the SU advantage, 29-28, while sparking a 10-3 Orange run. Syracuse stayed out in front to head into the break with a 42-36 lead.
Syracuse carried its momentum into the second half, utilizing a 14-4 run to take a 20-point lead, 63-43, with 11:56 remaining. Triche had six points in the run after sparking it with a trifecta.
Cornell used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit, 63- 50, but Joseph and Triche widened the gap, netting nine points and five points, respectively, to give Syracuse a 77-54 advantage with 5:56 left in the game.
The Big Red slowly cut the lead, but the Orange remained unstoppable, cruising to an 88-73 victory.
Syracuse returns to the Dome on Friday, November 27 when it hosts Columbia at 7 p.m.
Cornell's Errick Peck goes up for a shot against Syracuse's Rick Jackson during the second half of their game at the Carrier Dome Tuesday evening in Syracuse.
Syracuse in mid-season form, rolls over Cornell
SYRACUSE -- Timing typically assists a mid-major program when tasked with playing on a high major's home court. Play the game in November, the thinking goes, and chances rise of catching a heavyweight before it can polish off the rust.
Put simply, Syracuse has been all polish since Nov. 4, the day after Division II Le Moyne surprised the tinkering Orange in a home exhibition. Since then, they've rolled opponents of all levels with chemistry-driven aplomb, the latest an 88-73 blowout of Cornell on Tuesday.
"I knew our task was going to be a tough one tonight," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said.
Guards Brandon Triche and Andy Rautins combined for 39 points, making the Orange faithful forget -- for one night, at least -- names like Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf.
Syracuse had 22 fast-break points, shot over 50 percent for the fourth straight game, and made 23 of 28 free throws and 9 of 18 three-pointers.
It looked like one of Boeheim's best in late February, not pre-Thanksgiving. After all, this was a Cornell team that led Syracuse by 16 points last year, and five at halftime, before losing 88-78.
"It's very, very impressive," Cornell sophomore Chris Wroblewski said. "They're going to be a good team down the road, and they played really tough. They've got a lot of weapons, and they play really well together."
Like Seton Hall did Friday night in Ithaca, the Orange took a two-possession lead at halftime and buried Cornell with a big early run in the second half. This one, a 19-4 spurt, saw the first 12 points scored by Triche and Rautins. Points 13 and 14 of that run were set up by a Rautins steal and finished by a Rick Jackson dunk, giving SU a 59-41 lead with 13:27.
"I thought our defense in the first 10 minutes of the second half was really good," Boeheim said. "They're as tough to play as anybody. ... probably the most difficult team to play against -- zone -- that we'll play. I feel pretty comfortable saying that."Cornell had a game-changing four straight turnovers during that stretch. Syracuse feasted on the miscues.
"Almost every possession where we needed a good look, we got it," Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. "That stretch where we turned the ball over was obviously the difference in the game, when they really extended their lead."
For the second straight game, Cornell point guard Louis Dale struggled. After a foul-plagued 19 minutes against Seton Hall, the 5-11 senior guard managed three points, seven assists and five turnovers in 26 minutes.
A lengthy reprieve from Big East teams will do him, and the Big Red, some good. Syracuse led by as many as 23 late in the game."(Dale) played so well the first two games, and unfortunately he hasn't played great," Donahue said. "I think those teams were after him pretty good, after the UMass game in particular. I think you'll see him bounce back."
Syracuse's stretching 2-3 zone, which featured the endless wingspans of 6-7 forwards Wes Johnson and Kris Joseph, and 6-9 power forwards Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson, wiped away the interior and played a large role in Cornell's 17 turnovers.
But neither team held a larger lead than six in an offensive-minded first half.
With Syracuse primarily concerned with Cornell's slew of seniors, it was Wroblewski who kept the Big Red close over the first 20 minutes.
Syracuse fans had likely long forgotten about Wroblewski, whose resume for Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season skyrocketed during his first appearance at the Carrier Dome. The freshman started for an injured Dale, played 33 minutes, and finished with a stat line of nine points, four assists, three rebounds and one turnover against future NBA lottery pick Flynn.
This year, with Dale on the court, Wroblewski instead exhibited his shooting range. The 6-footer drained five of six 3-point attempts for 17 points in the opening half. He finished with 20 points as an encore to his collegiate-high 22 against Seton Hall.
"Chris is as good a player as we have," Donahue said. "In terms of knowing how to play, bringing it every single day, skill level, toughness, intelligence -- arguably our best player. I think people seem to forget that he does it on all stages."The win was Syracuse's 32nd straight in the longtime series.
Cornell hit nine 3s in the first half. After five, Syracuse scored immediately at the other end -- four times with either a 3 of its own, or a three-point play. In the second half, the Orange harassed Cornell into 4-of-18 shooting from beyond the arc.
No. 10 SYRACUSE 88, CORNELL 73
CORNELL (2-2) Wittman 6-13 4-4 19, Tyler 0-3 2-2 2, Foote 6-7 0-3 12, Wroblewski 7-15 0-0 20, Dale 1-6 0-0 3, Peck 3-8 2-3 8, Groebe 1-2 0-0 3, Wilkins 0-0 0-0 0, Reeves 2-6 0-0 6, Asafo-Adjei 0-0 0-0 0, Wire 0-1 0-0 0, Jaques 0-1 0-0 0, Coury 0-1 0-0 0, Chemerinski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 8-12 73.
SYRACUSE (5-0) Jackson 3-7 1-2 7, Johnson 5-10 4-4 15, Onuaku 3-6 1-2 7, Rautins 5-8 3-4 18, Triche 8-13 2-2 21, Jardine 1-2 2-2 4, Reese 0-0 0-0 0, Joseph 2-7 9-10 13, Riley 0-0 1-2 1, Southerland 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-55 23-28 88.Halftime: Syracuse 42-36. 3-Point Goals: Cornell 13-37 (Wroblewski 6-12, Wittman 3-10, Reeves 2-6, Groebe 1-1, Dale 1-5, Jaques 0-1, Peck 0-2), Syracuse 9-18 (Rautins 5-7, Triche 3-6, Johnson 1-3, Southerland 0-1, Joseph 0-1). Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: Cornell 36 (Foote 10), Syracuse 35 (Johnson 10). Assists: Cornell 18 (Dale 7), Syracuse 16 (Johnson 4). Total Fouls: Cornell 22, Syracuse 15. A: 18,238.
By Mike Waters
The Syracuse Post-Standard
November 25, 2009
It’s a neat trick for the Ivy League’s reigning rookie of the year to fly so far under the radar that even coming off a career-high performance, the opposition still doesn’t know his name.
Cornell’s senior trio of Ryan Wittman, Louis Dale and Jeff Foote gets most of the attention, but sophomore Chris Wroblewski might not be able to avoid the spotlight much longer.
Wroblewski, who scored 22 points in Cornell’s loss to Seton Hall last Friday, led the Big Red with 20 points in its 88-73 loss to Syracuse on Tuesday night at the Carrier Dome.
Wroblewski lit up the Orange for 17 first-half points, which got him noticed. Sort of.
“We were really trying to keep an eye on (Wittman), but No. 3 kept hitting a lot of shots in the first half,” Syracuse’s Wes Johnson said, referring to Wroblewski’s jersey number.
“Sometimes I go a little under the radar, a little unnoticed and I get some open looks,” Wroblewski said, noting how Cornell’s offense usually relies on Wittman, Dale and Foote. “Tonight I hit some.”
Cornell coach Steve Donahue called the 6-foot (cough, cough) guard the Big Red’s best player, a statement that would raise eyebrows given the fact that NBA scouts continue to track the 6-foot-7 Wittman’s play.
“Chris is as good a player as we have,” Donahue said. “He’s younger than those seniors, but in terms of knowing how to play, bringing it every single day, skill level, toughness, intelligence, (he’s) arguably our best player. People just seem to forget that he does that.”
Syracuse got on Wroblewski in the second half. He made just one 3-pointer after halftime to finish with 20 points.
“In the first half, my teammates really got me open looks,” Wroblewski said. “We moved the ball well. We did that in the second half (but) I just missed some shots. When anyone’s hitting shots, the defense is going to pay more attention. They’re really long and athletic and they did a great job of rushing my shot in the second half.”
Cornell Daily Sun
Check Monday's edition of The Cornell Daily Sun for additional coverage
No. 9 Syracuse 88, Men's basketball 73
The Orange only led by six at halftime, but it held off Cornell's shooters in the second half and pushed the lead out to 23 at one point en route to an 88-73 victory in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night. Sophomore guard Chris Wroblewski scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, shooting 5-of-6 from 3-point range. The team hit 9-of-19 3's in the first half, but cooled down to make just 4-of-18 in the second half. With Cornell's outside shooters out of rhythm, the Red had trouble solving Syracuse's 2-3 zone defense — it committed 10 turnovers in the second half and shot just 38.9 percent.
Senior forward Ryan Wittman scored 19, and his three 3-pointers moved him into first place in Ivy history for 3-pointers made. Freshman forward Errick Peck (eight points, six boards, two assists) played well in 13 minutes off the bench, but Syracuse rookie Brandon Triche stole the show with a game-high 21 points.
Syracuse pulls away with second-half run
Rochester Democrat & ChronicleNovember 25, 2009
SYRACUSE — For 20 minutes, Cornell made it look like a Big Apple letdown could lead to a Big Red stunner over Syracuse University.
But just like they did in last week's runaway wins in New York City, the 10th-ranked Orange started the second half with a flurry en route to an 88-73 victory in front of 18,238 fans at the Carrier Dome.SU (5-0) used a 15-2 surge early in the second half to take control against hot-shooting Cornell (2-2), which was down just 42-36 at halftime, and pull away easily. The Orange went on a 22-1 tear after intermission in last Friday's 87-71 win over then-No. 6 North Carolina.
"Coming off those two wins we were really banged up and tired. This showed where our heart was at," forward Wesley Johnson said.
Freshman point guard Brandon Triche scored 13 of his career-high 21 points after intermission to lead the charge. Andy Rautins added 18. Johnson had 15 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore swingman Kris Joseph chipped in with 13 points off the bench.
"This was a tough game for us to get ready for mentally," said coach Jim Boeheim, whose 804th victory ties him with Eddie Sutton for seventh in NCAA history.
"I thought it was, in a lot of ways, as good a win as the two that we had in New York. Most people wouldn't see it that way."
Most people don't think basketball when they hear Cornell, but the two-time defending Ivy League champions are a solid team that opened the season with road wins at Alabama and Massachusetts before Saturday's 89-79 home loss to Seton Hall.
An NCAA Tournament team the past two years, coach Steve Donahue's club has a bevy of shooters and played with patience against SU's 2-3 zone.
The Big Red moved the ball crisply to find open looks. Cornell made a blistering 8 of its first 14 shots from 3-point range and led, 28-27, when Ryan Wittman beat the shot clock from deep.
"They made some very tough shots," Boeheim said.
Sophomore guard Chris Wroblewski sizzled, making 5 of 6 from deep in the first half for 17 points. He drained another "3" to cut SU's lead to 44-39 two minutes into the second half, but that was his last. In fact, that's when the zone started to befuddle the Big Red, who went just 3-for-18 from downtown after that.
"We found their shooters," Johnson said. "We just had to communicate a lot."
Rautins started the 15-2 spurt with a jumper and Rick Jackson capped it by powering home a layup against 7-footer Jeff Foote to finish a fast break as he was fouled. The bucket, set up by Rautins' push and pass, had Boeheim pumping his fist.
"They're so athletic and so long that in the second half you rush your shots a little," Wroblewski said. "That window to shoot was a little smaller."
Cornell closed within 13 points with 10:55 remaining, but SU responded with a 12-2 run, as Scoop Jardine's long alley-oop to Joseph for a dunk ended the surge with the Orange ahead 75-52.
"They share the basketball. They play hard. You can tell they like each other and they're obviously extremely talented," Donahue said.
Syracuse Post Standard
November 25, 2009
When Brandon Triche exited Tuesday night’s game in the Carrier Dome, what was left of the 18,238 still in attendance rose and greeted his departure with sustained applause.
Triche had just completed the offensive game of his young Syracuse career. The freshman point guard from Jamesville-DeWitt scored a team-high and career-high 21 points. He took 13 shots and made eight of them. He sank half of the six 3-pointers he attempted.
“Just taking great shots and finishing on the break,” he said, “got me going a little bit.”
A sequence toward the end of Syracuse’s 88-73 win over Cornell illustrated Triche’s point.
With the Orange ahead 64-50 at the 9 minute, 57-second mark of the second half, Triche bulled into the lane and lofted a shot over the reach of Cornell’s 7-foot center Jeff Foote.
The ball kissed high off the glass and fell through. Seconds later, Triche, leading the Orange fast break, pulled up for a 3-pointer that nestled into the net.
SU led 69-50 at that point. And Triche had registered his third 3-pointer of the night.
“I took ’em a few times and coach was mad because I didn’t make ’em,” Triche said of the pull-up 3. “But I took a few shots in a row and I hit’em so I figured I was in a great rhythm. I figured I’d make that one.”
At 6-foot-4 and a sturdy, chiseled 200 pounds, Triche does not resemble many freshmen college point guards. His muscular build allows him to bully smaller, skinnier guards charged with containing him off the dribble. That size was one of the things that drew SU coach Jim Boeheim to Triche.
“I think that’s one of the main focal points of my game,” Triche said. “Just being stronger than every guard. I work out every day just to be that way.”
“He’s strong and he definitely uses his body the correct way,” SU forward Kris Joseph said. “He doesn’t force anything. He plays within the offense, which is great for a point guard. He doesn’t force the issue.”
Triche has struggled with his turnover count, which is common for young point guards who could make a play or make a pass in high school that now results in a stolen pass or a wayward dribble. His assists (13) and turnovers (13) mirrored each other coming into the Cornell game. Against the Big Red, he registered one assist and one turnover.
His big contributions on Tuesday came in the scoring column. Triche and fellow point guard Scoop Jardine insist they can score, that the offense these days is simply designed for them to distribute the ball to teammates with better opportunities.
Against the Big Red, Triche and fellow J-D alum Andy Rautins shot a combined 13-of-21 (62 percent) from the floor. Those smooth shooting numbers are impressive considering that both guards spent significant time Tuesday chasing Cornell’s deadly shooters on defense.
“Yeah, I think that was tough,” Triche said. “They would spend 35 seconds on the clock and then they were missing and getting another rebound back and taking another 35 seconds. Sometimes we would go a minute without even going on offense. ... You get tired going back and forth because they move the ball so great.”
Boeheim, when asked how pleased he was that Triche “was making big plays,” said he was not surprised that his prized point guard recruit had made an impact. Triche has said that he learns something nearly every day, that his basketball education grows with each game and each practice.
On Tuesday, that growing enlightenment helped secure Triche his 21 points.
“Every game I try to get better and better,” he said. “Doing that is definitely going to help my confidence. I know my ability. My coaches know my ability. They talk to me a lot, give me positive motivation.”
“He’s been a monster,” said Rautins. “He’s heady. He’s smart with the ball. He’s efficient. That’s what we need out of a point guard.”
M. Basketball Falters at Carrier Dome
Cornell Daily SunNovember 30, 2009
SYRACUSE, N.Y. –– Another tough Big East opponent, another hard-fought loss for the men’s basketball team, which dropped to an even 2-2 on the season after falling to No. 9 Syracuse (5-0), 88-73, on Tuesday night at the Carrier Dome.
After nearly pulling off an upset for the ages last December, the Red certainly gave the Orange reason to worry –– and perhaps even an unsettling feeling of déjà vu –– as Cornell hit a barrage of 3’s in the opening stanza and entered the halftime period trailing by only six.
However, as the second frame progressed, the Red became increasingly frustrated by the Orange’s 2-3 zone defense –– committing 10 of its 17 turnovers in the final half and shooting just 38.9 percent from the field.
“We knew our task was going to be a tough one. ... [Cornell is] probably the most difficult team to play against zone that we’ll play,” said Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. “I think our guys did a tremendous job tonight, particularly the start of the second half, adjusting defensively. ... We did a good job finding their shooters.”
Indeed, after posting a career-high 33 points at the Carrier Dome almost a year ago, senior forward Ryan Wittman was not allowed nearly as many open looks by the Orange defense, yet still managed to knock down 19 points to finish second on the team. Instead, Tuesday proved a memorable night for Wittman for a different reason, as his third 3-pointer of the game gave him 282 for his career –– surpassing Princeton’s Brian Earl for the most in Ivy League history. Wittman also became the second player in Cornell history to reach the 1,500-point mark.The Red drew first blood in the contest, as senior guard Louis Dale drilled a 3 within the first 40 seconds of play; however, that would be all the scoring seen from Dale, who for the second straight game was held to well below his 11-point average.
“Unfortunately, Lou didn’t play two of his better games,” said Cornell head coach Steve Donahue. “I think he got a little frustrated early on –– this was a zone game, a little different than a regular game.”
Also for the second straight game, sophomore guard Chris Wroblewski demonstrated why he deserves the same level of attention as the Red’s more established veterans. After scoring a career-high 22 points against Seton Hall, Wroblewski followed up this breakout performance with a team-leading 20-point effort, 17 of which came in the first half. Wroblewski would finish the night with six treys, and shot a blistering 5-of-6 from downtown in the first 20 minutes.
“Chris is as good a player as we have. ... He does it on all stages,” Donahue said. “I think he got a little fatigued and missed open shots, but he kept getting them, and he’s creative in how he gets them –– he shot fakes, he moves the ball –– it’s not just them leaving him open. Obviously they came out and tried to stop him the second half.”
Five consecutive points by Wroblewski propelled Cornell to an 8-5 advantage, but Syracuse responded after the first media timeout with a dunk by senior forward Arinze Onuaku that brought the Orange to within one and the crowd to its feet. Over the next two minutes, the home team drained three 3’s, including a pair by senior guard Andy Rautins, who was 5-for-7 from beyond the arc en route to an 18-point night.
However, the Red reciprocated in kind with a pair of treys from senior guard Geoff Reeves and Wroblewski, along with a Jeff Foote put-back on a miss by Wittman. The senior center picked up his first double-double of the young season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and also contributed his team’s only block. Cornell found itself on top, 16-15, with 12:20 remaining, but a Red turnover allowed for a 3 from junior Wes Johnson –– an Iowa State transfer widely-considered one of the nation’s top forwards. Johnson would also end the night with a double-double, notching 15 points and 10 boards.
Syracuse extended its lead to five at 24-19, but Wroblewski’s fourth long-distance shot of the half kept things interesting. Cornell continued its hot streak from outside, as a Reeves 3-pointer brought the Red within one. Less than a minute later, Wittman hit his first 3 of the game with time expiring on the shot clock to put the visiting team up, 28-27.
Cornell would miss its next two 3-point attempts, enabling Syracuse to go on a 7-0 run that bolstered its lead to 34-28. The Red battled back to within 40-36 with 26 seconds remaining, but Johnson’s offensive rebound field goal off his own miss put the Orange ahead, 42-36, heading into the halftime period.
While the first half featured 11 lead changes, the second act was all Syracuse, as the Orange defense successfully derailed the Red’s attempts from beyond the arc –– limiting Cornell’s shooters to just 4-of-18.
“Our defense was key starting the second half,” Boeheim said. “Every time they made a 3, we came back and made a good possession, made a good play.”
The Orange padded its lead to nine at 50-41 on a pair of 3’s by Rautins –– his fourth –– and freshman guard Brandon Triche, who led both teams with a career-high 21 points. Triche converted a three-point play after being fouled, and Rautins contributed another 3 to hand Syracuse a 56-41 advantage. The lead would swell to as much as 20 before the Red answered with a run of its own.
“They took that six-point lead and put it up to 18-20 points pretty quickly. After that we started to execute on the defensive end,” Wittman said.
Freshman Errick Peck, who contributed eight points and six rebounds off the bench in only his fourth collegiate game, hit a layup and was fouled. Although Peck missed the free throw opportunity, Foote’s rebound off Rautins’ failed layup paved the way for Wittman’s history-tying 3-pointer. A dunk from Foote cut the deficit to 13, but that was as close as the Red would come to catching the Orange, who had its largest lead of the game at 23 with 6:52 remaining.
Wittman brought Cornell within 15 with his third and final trey of the game, but it proved too little too late as Syracuse ran out the clock en route to a comfortable 88-73 win.
The Orange shot 50.9 percent overall and was 9-of-18 from 3-point range for the game. While Cornell out-rebounded Syracuse, 36-35, the Orange held the advantage in blocks (8-1) and outnumbered the Red in fast break points, 22-2, which resulted from some costly Cornell turnovers –– including a stretch early in the second half where the visiting team turned the ball over on four straight possessions.
“I thought we executed the heck out of our offense in terms of finding open shots. ... Almost every possession where we needed a good look, we got it,” Donahue said. “That stretch where we turned the ball over was obviously the difference in the game, when they really extended their lead.”
Syracuse takes Cornell's best shot and still wins
By Mike Waters
The Syracuse Post-Standard
November 25, 2009
Syracuse -- For the first 20 minutes of Tuesday’s game, the Cornell Big Red took its best shot against the Syracuse Orange.
Cornell attacked Syracuse’s zone defense with a barrage of 3-pointers, taking 19 shots from beyond the 3-point arc and making nine. The Big Red shot better from the field (44.4 percent) and better from 3-point range (47.4 percent) than any of Syracuse’s first four opponents this season, including nationally ranked California and North Carolina.
Cornell sophomore Chris Wroblewski put on a one-man show, nailing 5 of 6 from long range in the first half.
And when the horn sounded, signaling the intermission, Syracuse still led by six.
The Orange had taken Cornell’s best punch and remained standing.
No. 10 Syracuse tightened its defensive focus at halftime and pulled away for an 88-73 victory in front of 18,238 fans at the Carrier Dome.
The Orange took control of the game with a 21-6 run to start the second half. In the first eight minutes after halftime, the Big Red went 3-for-11 from the field with five turnovers.
“We executed as well as we can in the first half,” Cornell coach Steve Donahue said. “We got open looks. We got the ball inside. In the second half, they start getting in rhythm with what you’re doing on offense. I thought they did a good job of stepping in passing lanes.”
Once Syracuse cooled down Cornell’s shooters, the Orange had too much offensive firepower for the Big Red.
Syracuse placed four players in double-figures with freshman point guard Brandon Triche scoring a career-high 21 points. Wes Johnson registered a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Andy Rautins scored 18 points while going 5-for-7 from 3-point range.
In closing out Cornell in convincing fashion, Syracuse (5-0) avoided the trap of letting down after last week’s two impressive wins over North Carolina and California at Madison Square Garden.
Those victories elevated Syracuse from “Others Receiving Votes” to No. 10 in this week’s Associated Press poll.
“This was a tough game for us to get ready for mentally,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “I thought it was in a lot of ways as good a win as the two we had in New York. The mental thing of coming off New York and being able to get composed and coming back and playing a good game, that’s very difficult to do.”
Cornell (2-2) seemed to be a likely David to Syracuse’s Goliath. The two-time defending Ivy League champions return five starters. The Big Red, which led Syracuse by 16 points at the Dome last year, had already won at Alabama and UMass this season.
But the Syracuse players knew all about Cornell.
“We kinda knew that was going to happen,” Johnson said of Cornell’s red-hot shooting in the first half. “I saw them play last year. That’s their game, 3-point shots. We just really had to grind it out. We knew they were going to hit a lot of shots, and they did. We just had to stay focused.”
In the second half, Syracuse held Cornell to 38.9 percent (14-for-36) field-goal shooting. The Big Red made only 4 of its 18 attempts from 3-point range.
“I think our guys did a tremendous job tonight, particularly at the start of the second half, adjusting defensively,” Boeheim said. “We got to their shooters in the first eight or 10 minutes.”
Wroblewski, who was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first half, made his last 3-pointer of the game with 18 minutes remaining. He was 1-for-6 in the second half. Ryan Wittman, Cornell’s leading scorer, finished with 19 points, but 11 of those came after Syracuse had staked itself to a 63-43 lead midway through the second half.
Syracuse took Cornell’s best shot and then delivered the knockout.
“It’s a big game for us,” Rautins said. “They’re a great team. They’re going to be a tournament team. This was an important test for us. It’s a good win.”
November 25, 2009
"Shut it Down" by Rob Murphy has become the theme song for the 2009-10 Syracuse Basketball Orange.
No offense, Rob, but "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar would be a more appropriate one to describe Syracuse's 88-73 win over Cornell at the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night.
Cornell was white hot in the first half, hitting 9-of-19 attempts from the beyond the arc and hitting 44% of their shots from the field overall.
The good news was Ryan Wittman, who torched Syracuse for 33 points a year ago, was pretty quiet in that stretch.
The bad news was Chris Wroblewski took on the role of Ryan Wittman circa 2008 and had 17 points (including five three's) by the break.
"Fire away" indeed.
Cornell could shoot. Everyone in the building knew it. But they also broke out their best Norman Dale impression (four passes!) and passed the ball around furiously around SU's zone looking for the best shot. Several Cornell shot attempts, in fact it seemed like all of them for a good stretch of the first half, came with less than :10 remaining on the shot clock.
Yet, a glance at the scoreboard at halftime showed Syracuse up 42-36.
Cornell was shooting well, but Syracuse was busy responding to those shots in the first half with good possessions. The Orange got three three-pointers from Andy Rautins and several scoring possessions in response in the first half to keep pace with Cornell's fury of three's. All seven Orangemen who got in the game in the first half chipped in something, including nine from Wes Johnson and eight from Brandon Triche. The defense certainly wasn't on "2K Sports Classic" levels, but it was good enough to hold Syracuse in it.
Once the second half began, Syracuse had enough of their neighbors from the south in Ithaca making a game of this. The defense got a lot tighter and SU went on a 21-6 run to open the half. Cornell went from a "fire burning on the dance floor" to the Elaine Benis Dance. The Big Red made only 4 of its 18 attempts from 3-point range the rest of the game.
It looked like a member of the Big Red was going to come out on top in the scoring race in this one. Instead, it was a former J-D Red Ram.
Brandon Triche had a career-high 21 points to lead Syracuse. Asked about Triche making all kinds of plays in this game to lead Syracuse, Jim Boeheim treated the news as if swatting a fly (or a microphone for that matter) gently away from his face. To say the least, he wasn't surprised to see Triche break out like this.
Boeheim warned his team that Cornell would play Syracuse tough. That it would be that much tougher for Syracuse to settle down from the high of recent wins over California and North Carolina and taking a long jump (Carl Lewis long) from unranked to Top 10 in the rankings.
"I thought, in a lot of ways, it was as good a win as the two we had in New York" Boeheim said after the game. "Most people wouldn't see it that way. I think coming off that tournament and coming home, I would see it that way."
After Syracuse put the clamps down and made this seem like a SU-Cornell match up from, oh, five years ago or so, it was pretty much uneventful for the rest of the way...put aside that little matter of Mookie Jones making an early dash for the locker room. But more on that in a minute.
Syracuse had three tough games in six games and came out of that stretch 3-0 and with a sizeable margin of victory in each of those games.
Cornell, North Carolina, and California fired away and Syracuse remains standing and in good shape.
Anyone else think Rob Murphy should do a cover of "Hit Me With Your Best Shot?"
***
*The defense wasn't as active as it was when Syracuse played in Madison Square Garden, but they did enough in the second half to cut off Wroblewski and get out on the shooters harder to throw off the hot shooting night Cornell was having in the first half. Ryan Wittman did end up with 19 points after a slow start, but you are not going to hold a good player like that down for long. Plus, he put in a chunk of those when this one was out of reach.
*Syracuse has hovered around 50% in field goal percentage all season and they did it again in this game, shooting 51% (28-55) and and even 50% (9-18) from three
*Syracuse outscored Cornell 22-2 on the fast break.
*Cornell turned the ball over 17 times and Syracuse made the most of it with 23 points off turnovers.
This, That, and the Other Thing
*The victory was Syracuse's 32nd straight in the series which dates to the 1900-01 campaign, the first year of intercollegiate play at SU.
*Syracuse is 86-31 overall vs Cornell.
*Jim Boeheim has now tied Eddie Sutton for seventh all time on the Division I wins list with 804 victories.
*In the course of one minute, the two teams exchanged the lead four times. Cornell’s Jeff Reeves connected from three-point range to give the Big Red a 25-24 lead before Arinze Onuaku scored inside and hit the free throw (no joke!), swinging the lead back to the Orange, 27-25. A three by Ryan Wittman gave Cornell a 28-27 lead, but Onauku converted from down low again giving the lead back to SU, 29-28, while sparking a 10-3 Orange run. Syracuse picked up that momentum in the second half, going on a 14-4 run to take a 20-point lead, 63-43, with 11:56 remaining and never looked back.
*No TV for this one. Just ESPN360.com, which by the way will be the case for Monday's game vs Colgate as well and was the case for the SU Football game this past weekend vs Rutgers. All the reasoning why ESPN360.com is only available to Verizon subscribers, therefore limiting access to a large segment of the fans, is all above my head, but here's hoping this all gets worked out for the future. Fans have been force fed every game on TV and have to come to expect it. How can there be exhibition games on TV, but a game between a Top 10 team and a back-to-back NCAA Tournament team is not? (Full disclosure, my radio show is simulcast by Time Warner Cable Sports)
| Syracuse vs. Cornell basketball: Coach Jim Boeheim |
| Syracuse vs. Cornell basketball: Players Joseph, Triche and Johnson. |
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