Syracuse, Villanova to kick off Big East tournament action

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
12 PM - Madison Square Garden

#8 Villanova vs. #9 Syracuse

It’s the bubble matchup of all bubble games, as Villanova and Syracuse face off for the third time this season in the opening round of the Big East tournament. Both teams were 9-9 in Big East play; Villanova posted a 19-11 overall mark and Syracuse finished with a 19-12 record. Two teams who badly need this win to strengthen their resumes. The winner keeps their tournament hopes alive and well. The loser will be forced to play the waiting game and learn their fate on Selection Sunday.

No.8-seeded Villanova closed out the regular season winning their last two games against South Florida and Providence to lock down the eighth seed. The Wildcats rebounded from a disappointing five-game losing streak, going 6-3 in their final nine contests. While Scottie Reynolds enters as the leading scorer, averaging 15.4 ppg, Reynolds has struggled down the stretch on offense. Reynolds scored 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting in the win over UConn on Feb. 23rd, but since then it’s been a bit of power outage for the sophomore guard.

In his final four games, Reynolds has connected on just 10-of-31 field goal attempts and Reynolds has struggled shooting the 3-pointer, hitting on only 3-of-15 shots from downtown. Forwards Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson have boosted the frontcourt for Villanova. Cunningham and Anderson are averaging just a shade under 10 ppg (Cunningham-9.5, Anderson-9.75), while combining to pull down over seven rebounds per game in the last four. Forward Shane Clark posted back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts against South Florida and Providence for the first time since Dec. 14th and Dec. 22nd. Reynolds is the fire starter for Villanova, and how he goes, so will the Wildcats. His teammates feed off of his energy and play-making abilities. The No. 1 objective for Syracuse will be to shackle Reynolds and lock him up, and force other Villanova players to beat them.

For the No.9-seed Syracuse Orange, head coach Jim Boeheim and company have spent the good part of the last two seasons living life on the tournament bubble. After blowing an 11-point to Pitt on the first of this month, their tournament hopes were dealt a severe blow. The loss to Pitt was their third straight, and the Orange dropped five of six. Syracuse rebounded nicely in their final two games of the season, beating Seton Hall in a must-win game and thumping No. 24 Marquette in their regular season home finale, 87-72. Syracuse picked the right time to produce their biggest win of the year in their finale, and the win over a ranked Marquette team has put Syracuse on the right side of the bubble picture. Their tournament resume is far from being polished, and while the Orange have improved their tournament status greatly, there’s still work left for Syracuse to do, beginning with Villanova.

Syracuse has been dogged by two key injuries to guards Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf. Rautins has missed the entire season with a torn ACL and Devendorf has been on the shelf since suffering an ACL injury on Dec. 15th ; Syracuse is 12-9 without Devendorf. Due to the injuries in their backcourt, Syracuse hasn’t had the luxury of easing along freshmen Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn into the college game. With an extreme short bench, Boeheim had no other choice but to throw the kids right into the fire, and Flynn and Greene, along with sophomore Paul Harris, have carried Syracuse this season. Greene, Flynn and Harris are all averaging in double figures, with Greene leading the way, dropping in 17.5 ppg, good for fifth in the Big East in scoring. The Syracuse trio has combined to account for nearly 61 percent of the offense for Syracuse, which ranks second in the Big East in scoring at 79.0 ppg.

Flynn has been outstanding at the point for Syracuse, and though he’s only a freshman, Flynn has logged at least 39 minutes per game since Jan. 21st, playing all 40 minutes or more in 10 of the last 12 games. Flynn lead Syracuse in assists with 5.3 apg, and had a string of six straight games playing all 40 minutes. Forward Arinze Onuaku is the only other Orange player scoring in double figures, averaging 12.9 ppg and 8.0 rebounds per game. Onuaku ranks first in the Big East in field goal percentage, shooting 64 percent from the field.

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It’ll be the rubber match between these two on Wednesday, with each team winning on the other’s home floor. Villanova took the first meeting in the Carrier Dome, pulling out an 81-71 win on Jan.19 th. Scottie Reynolds burned Syracuse for a game-high 25 points for the Wildcats, who had 14 steals in the first meeting. Foul trouble hampered Syracuse back in January, with Donte Greene and Scoop Jardine fouling out, while Onuaku and Harris each had four fouls.

Syracuse extracted revenge in early February, dropping the hammer on Villanova, 87-73 at the Wachovia Center. Syracuse shot a torrid 62.8 percent from the field in the rematch, with Paul Harris finishing with a career-high 28 points and Jonny Flynn adding 24. Freshman Corey Fisher led Villanova with 21 points, but Syracuse contained Reynolds in the second meeting, limiting Reynolds to just 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting before fouling out.

The winner will face the Big East regular season champs and No. 1 seed Georgetown on Thursday at noon.

by Frank Minniti
BigEast-fans.com Director of Content

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