A Tale of Two Halves- Orange hang on despite sloppy second half

Since arriving on campus in the fall of 2003, the class of 2007 have been like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They've shown promise in spurts, but have a horribly inconsistent side that is scary to Orange fans. Tonight's victory over Cincinnati assumed the same identity. The Orange raced out of the gates and held a double digit lead for nearly the entire first half. However, the combination of hot three point shooting by the Bearcats and a high number of turnovers by the Orange allowed Cincinnati to take their first lead of the game with just over a minute to play. A pair of Eric Devendorf free throws with 12 seconds to go provided the go-ahead points in a 77-76 victory for the Orange. The win pushed the Orange to a 15-4 record and four victories in their first five conference games.

Orange fans have to be disappointed that their team couldn't put this game away earlier. The lead peaked as high as 19 at several points during the first half and the size of the front line gave Cincinnati fits. When Daryl Watkins and Terrence Roberts weren't blocking shots, they were altering them. On the offensive end Roberts was getting easy points in the paint, and the Orange outscored the Bearcats 18-4 in that department. Guards Josh Wright, Eric Devendorf, and Andy Rautins did a great job in transition, giving Syracuse a decisive edge in fastbreak points. The Orange can attribute a lot of their recent success in their ability to score in transition, but that disappeared in the second half.

Speaking of disappearing acts, the greatest display may have been put on by Terrence Roberts. Roberts dominated play in the first half; piling up 16 points and providing tremendous defense. He followed that up with just one point in the second half. Frontcourt mate Daryl Watkins wasted a tremendous opportunity in this game. Towering over the entire Bearcats roster, Watkins did not score a single point. However, he did key a tremendous first half defensive effort and ended up with eight blocks. Watkins has been playing terrific basketball but did not assert himself enough offensively in this game. Luckily, the Big East's leading scorer Demetris Nichols provided the punch offensively. He paced the Orange with 22, hitting four shots from beyond the arc. His only problem has been settling for the three. Nichols has shown his tremendous catch and shoot abilities, but needs to create more getting to the basket. The big guys received a boost with the return of Matt Gorman, although he did his damage from the perimeter. Gorman drilled two three pointers and allowed Boeheim to go with an eight man rotation for the first time in several games. With freshman Paul Harris only playing four first half minutes, an eight man rotation may be a bit of an overstatement.

Boeheim notoriously shortens his bench in Big East play, but it's tough to imagine why Harris is collecting splinters on the bench. Harris, the preseason choice for Big East newcomer of the year, has seen his minutes dwindle in conference play. He's struggled with his outside shot and has been very deferential to the upperclassmen. The emergence of Andy Rautins has certainly cut in to his minutes, but it's hard to imagine that a player of Harris' caliber will continue to sit and watch. Although Devendorf and Wright did a tremendous job distributing in tonight's game (15 assists combined), they continue to make questionable decisions. They are turning the ball over too frequently and the backcourt could really use Harris' tremendous playmaking ability. With seniors Roberts and Nichols fading for stretches, Devendorf bailed the offense out of its late game funk. He scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half to go with his team high 8 assists. The biggest problem plaguing Devendorf has been lacksadaisacal passes. Too often he tries to throw fancy passes in crowded areas. Wright's turnover problems have come from trying to do too much. Whether it's pushing the tempo too fast or trying to get too creative, his ball-handling has been a major source of concern.

Turnovers nearly cost Syracuse the game despite nailing 10 3's, shooting over 50% from the floor, and over 80% from the free throw line. Guards Devendorf, Rautins, and Wright combined for 10 of Syracuse's 21 turnovers while Cincinnati committed only 8 as a team. The visitors also connected on 13 three pointers, including 8 from forward Marcus Sikes. Star freshman Deonta Vaughn struggled for most of the night, but finished with 13 points and a team high 5 assists. Vaughn had seven of his points in the Bearcats 10-0 run late in the second half to cut the deficit to one. Appropriately it was Sikes 3 pointer with a 1:13 left that gave Cincinnati its first lead of the game at 75-73. Four clutch free throws in the final minute by Nichols and Devendorf proved to be the difference. A loss to the Big East's last place team at home would have been devastating for the Orange, especially with the way they dominated most of the game. Until the Senior class can give a consistent 40 minutes, the Orange will have to battle. However, if they can get more steady play, they have the experience and talent to be a very dangerous team.