Syracuse Preview
January 12, 2008 09:27 PM | General
January 12, 2008
GAME NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Jim Boeheim and Bob Huggins have coached 1,846 college basketball games. On Sunday the two will meet for the first time when West Virginia plays host to Syracuse in a Big East game at the WVU Coliseum.
It’s been a while since West Virginia and Syracuse last hooked up on the basketball court. The two didn’t play last year and Syracuse last played at the WVU Coliseum on March 2, 2004. Despite the infrequent play the Orange have won the last eight meetings and own a 29-15 advantage in the series. No current Syracuse player has seen game against West Virginia during their careers.
Syracuse (12-4, 2-1) is also making just its third trip away from New York, having split its previous road trips at Virginia (70-68 win) and most recently at Cincinnati (74-66 loss).
Fifty five of Syracuse’s 66 points against the Bearcats came from 6-11 freshman forward Donte Greene and 6-5 sophomore forward Paul Harris. Outstanding freshman guard Jonny Flynn was just 2 of 15 shooting against Cincinnati and the Orange were also beaten on the glass by a 39-32 margin, including giving up 18 offensive boards to Cincinnati.
Syracuse is without guards Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins for the season. Both are recovering from knee injuries meaning Syracuse is not very deep off the bench. Only seven players got into the game against Cincinnati Wednesday night.
Greene is a favorite for Big East rookie of the year honors and is averaging 19.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Harris shows averages of 13.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game and has eight double-doubles so far this year. Flynn is averaging 14.1 points per game and 6-9, 258-pound center Arinze Onuaku shows averages of 14.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
Syracuse is leading the Big East in scoring averaging 84.7 points per game. West Virginia (11-4, 1-2) is third in the league in scoring averaging 81.2 points per game.
The Mountaineers are coming off a disappointing 63-54 loss at Louisville on Thursday night. Six-eight forward Joe Alexander provided most of the offense for the Mountaineers, scoring 22 points – the sixth time this season he’s scored at least 20 in a game.
Alexander is averaging 16.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Junior guard Alex Ruoff leads the team in scoring averaging 16.2 points per game, while both Da’Sean Butler (12.3 ppg) and Darris Nichols (10.5 ppg) are also averaging double digits.
Seven-foot center Jamie Smalligan is also expected to start. He is averaging 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
Tip off is scheduled for 2:30 pm following West Virginia’s women’s game against Notre Dame. ESPNU is televising both contests nationally.
Fans can listen to MSN’s pre-game coverage beginning at 2 pm. Sirius Satellite Radio users can access the broadcast on channel 127 and CSTV All-Access subscribers can listen to the broadcast on the Internet through MSNsportsNET.com.
