St. John's - Syracuse Postgame Reactions OR Still The Best in New York
0 Comments Published on 2.12.2013 by Brian Harrison
There were only a few puzzling moments from Syracuse in this one.
St. John's was in a tough position. They were playing a top ten opponent on the road in the Big East and without Steve Lavin on the bench. They gave it a good effort, but Syracuse could not be denied, especially with the return of key reserve player James Southerland, having had his eligibility restored. It was too much for the scrappy upstarts from Downstate. Syracuse beats the Red Storm 77 to 58.
- Once again, the leading scorer for Syracuse was CJ Fair who had 17 points on 7-13 shooting and 2-3 from beyond the arc, both from the corner. He also pulled down nine rebounds while playing 39 minutes. He also had a pretty serious dunk that was called an offensive foul.
- MCW also had 17 points on 6-9 shooting and 3-5 from behind the line. He had a really solid game overall including eight assists and six steals. It seems he has again struck a nice balance between scoring and assisting on scores. It helps with Southerland back in the lineup to take the pressure off him as well. He was also 2-2 from the free throw line.
- Brandon Triche also had a nice day with 16 points on 5-10 shooting (2-6 long range). Additionally, he added five rebounds, seven assists, and was 4-4 from the free throw line.
- James Southerland was a little shaky in his first half back after missing six games, but he made up for it in the second half and found his rhythm. He was 4-10 from the floor and 3-7 from behind the arc for a total of 13 points in 26 minutes of work. He also had two rebounds, assists, steals, and one block. Not a bad return for the team's leading scorer.
- Baye Moussa Keita had the game Syracuse fans were yearning for while Southerland was out. He was 4-4 from the floor in 22 minutes, earning eight points, four rebounds, and two blocks.
- Trevor Cooney was great defensively, but he still looks terrible on the offensive end. He played seven minutes and was 0-1 but had one steal.
- Jerami Grant took a step back from his last game's big performance but still had a solid day, yielding minutes in favor of Southerland. He had four points, shooting 2-5 from the floor in 15 minutes.
- Rakeem Christmas is still one of the best athletes on the floor but he also took a step back from his play in the Notre Dame game. He was 1-2 in 18 minutes, picking up two points, a rebound, steal, and block.
- Syracuse shot a gaudy 53.7% from the floor, 45.5% (10-22) from long range. They also shot 9-10 (90%) from the free throw line. St. John's only shot 41.8%, 22.7% (5-22), and 7-10 (70%) respectively.
- The referees let the kids play in this one, not calling anything ticky tacky or touch fouls. They only called actual body contact or charges. In reference to the charge on the Fair dunk, I do think CJ got beat to the position, but officials have to be weary of calling offensive fouls on players that are already in the air for a dunk. A defender should not be able to slip in and establish position when a player is going for a dunk already in the air to get a foul. Of course, this is the hardest call in basketball.
- Southerland had one of the prettiest plays on the day getting a long pass from MCW, then dishing it with no look to Triche to finished with a dunk at the other end to really put away any momentum St. John's had built.
- Syracuse had 12 turnovers in this game. That's a little high, led by three from Brandon Triche, but it is close to their average. St. John's had 16.
Labels: Basketball, Big East
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