Syracuse vs Villanova Game Recap

Syracuse 95, Villanova 77

Considering the fact that Jim Boeheim has won 826 games in his illustrious career as the head coach of the Syracuse Orange, it's rather amazing that his program hasn't had this figure next to its listing in a box score in 20 years: "(1)".

After Boeheim's ballclub made a very good Villanova team look bad on Saturday night in upstate New York, Syracuse will become number one again when March's seeded tournaments begin.

It was a milestone night at the Carrier Dome, which packed 34,616 fans into an on-campus facility and set a college basketball regular-season attendance record in the process. Sure, the size of the crowd provided a nice distinction, but the truly historic aspect of SU's 18-point popping of No. 8 Villanova is that the Orange will become the top seed in both the Big East and NCAA Tournaments. For all that Syracuse basketball has accomplished in Boeheim's third of a century on the bench - a national championship, three Final Fours, five Big East Tournament titles, and 14 Sweet 16 appearances, among others - it's absolutely mind-blowing to realize that the 'Cuse hasn't won at least a share of the Big East regular season championship since 2003. This thorough thrashing of a foe from Philadelphia ensured that a conference crown will be lifted by a Boeheim-coached club once again.

Thanks to this win, Syracuse merely has to beat St. John's in a few days to claim an outright Big East title for the first time since 2000. Given that star wing Wesley Johnson is suffering from pain in his shooting hand, it would be very valuable for Boeheim to sit his high-scoring stud with an eye toward a deep run in March Madness. Assuming that Johnson can be fully healthy, it's going to be hard to stop a team that didn't even need him against Villanova.

While Johnson did score 14 points, the 6-7 junior forward clearly labored through a 2-of-11 night from the field. His teammates, however, picked up the slack, as they rebounded from a slow start to whack Coach Jay Wright's Wildcats.

Villanova started strong, building a 20-12 lead in the first eight minutes and sustaining a 27-22 advantage until the seven-minute mark of the first half.

Then, Syracuse took over.

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The Orange - held to 22 points in the first 13 minutes of the opening stanza - tallied 24 points in the final seven minutes of the half to take a 46-36 lead to the locker room at halftime. Villanova had been flustering Syracuse with a smaller and quicker lineup that beat the Orange down the floor and prevented Boeheim's vaunted 2-3 zone from taking effect. However, when Boeheim went with a smaller lineup of his own and inserted his top reserves into the fray, the tenor of this tilt changed considerably.

Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine - who would be starting for almost any other team in the United States - occupy positions as the sixth and seventh men in the Syracuse rotation. They both charged onto the Carrier Dome floor and immediately began to punish Villanova for taking bad shots. The Wildcats hoisted 28 threes in this game and made only eight of them, so the 'Cuse got its chances to push the ball in transition. Joseph and Jardine were frequently the ringleaders of a furious fast break that finally got untracked in the final minutes of the first half and repeatedly damaged Nova over the course of the second half. Because of the Joseph-Jardine mini-juggernaut, Syracuse was able to place six players in double figures, including its two "bench-men henchmen."

If Villanova had any thoughts of a comeback, they died just under six minutes into the second half. With 14:19 left in regulation, the Wildcats had played Syracuse to a standstill in the early stages of the second stanza. After trailing by 10 at the break, Nova found itself down only nine, at 61-52. Given their proven ability to score in bunches, the Cats were certainly in the thick of the fight.

But that's when the Orange landed a number of haymakers.

If the small-ball game provided by Joseph and Jardine ignited Syracuse late in the first half, the interior brawn of the big men lifted the Orange in the second half. Arinze Onuaku (17 points, nine rebounds) and Rick Jackson (19 points, eight boards) began to destroy Villanova on the offensive glass, helping the 'Cuse to snare a whopping 22 offensive boards. The repeated putbacks allowed the home team to get layups and free throws in abundance, and with Villanova unable to string together defensive stops, the visitors from Philadelphia were never able to regain a foothold. Syracuse pushed its lead to 67-52 with just over 10 minutes left and only extended its advantage down the stretch. In so doing, a proud program finally returned to the Big East regular season winner's circle for the first time in seven years, and for the first time as an outright champion in a solid decade. Moreover, Syracuse will be a No. 1 regional seed in the NCAA Tournament for only the second time (1980) since the Big Dance began to be seeded in 1979.

Yes, the big crowd was great... it was also extremely loud. However, there were many other more important milestones for Syracuse basketball to celebrate on a richly rewarding Saturday night in a sweet, sweet spotlight.

By: Matt Zemek
BigEast-Fans.com Correspondent