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PAINT

GUT CHECK

IN THE

PULL-OUT POSTERS OF JAMES SOUTHERLAND AND BRANDON TRICHE INSIDE

MARCH 1-3, 2013

Entering critical stretch of season, Syracuse hosts No. 10 Louisville looking to halt 2-game skid

Test of composureIt’s fight-or-flight time as the Cardinals’ visit to the Dome promises to test the late-game nerves the Orange has lacked lately. Page 5

Keep calmSyracuse’s two-game slide is no reason to panic. The Orange is flawed along with every other national contender, writes Chris Iseman.Page 6

Sounding offAs the conference landscape has rumbled, shaked and fractured, Jim Boeheim and Rick Pitino have been two of the most honest figures in college sports, creating an enter-taining library of rants and quotes.Page 7

Cardinal numbersSee how Syracuse and Louisville stack up stats-wise all over the court. Page 2

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BEAT WRITER PREDICTIONS

MICHAEL COHEN

RYNE GERY

CHRIS ISEMAN

FREE THROWS

Louisville is forcing opponents into 18.8 turnovers per game. Syracuse is turning the ball over about 12.5 times per contest.

Louisville is first in the Big East in points per game with 74.4 Syracuse is a close second with 70.

FORTUNE COOKIE

Syracuse 73, Louisville 71

Dieng, bro.

Louisville 75, Syracuse 68

SU’s slide continues.

Syracuse 72, Louisville 68

Streak ends at two.

SATURDAY, NOON, CARRIER DOME(22-6)

RANKINGS TRACKERData based on the AP Top 25 poll

@GEORGETOWNMARCH 9, NOON

DEPAULMARCH 6, 6 P.M.

12SYRACUSE vs. LOUISVILLE10

Louisville has the most Big East wins in the last seven regular seasons with 92. Syracuse is second with 91.

Syracuse is the only team to beat Louisville at the Cardinals’ home court, KFC YUM! Center, this season.

Syracuse is among the top 10 in the nation in scoring margin (plus-14.3), field-goal percentage defense (37.1 percent), blocked shots (6.4) and steals (9.5)

HALF COURT SHOTS

Week 17After losing to then-No. 12 George-town, Syracuse drops four spots.

SyracuseNAME POS. HOMETOWN

Michael Gbinije F Richmond, Va.

Michael Carter-Williams G Hamilton, Mass.

Jerami Grant F Hyattsville, Md.

Nolan Hart G Albany, N.Y.

C.J. Fair F Baltimore, Md.

Trevor Cooney G Wilmington, Del.

Baye Moussa Keita C Saint Louis, Senegal

Griffin Hoffmann G New York, N.Y.

Matt Lyde-Cajuste F Mt. Vernon, N.Y.

Brandon Triche G Jamesville, N.Y.

Noel Jones F Halifax, Nova Scotia

Russ DeRemer G Wrentham, Mass.

Rakeem Christmas F Philadelphia, Pa.

DaJuan Coleman F Jamesville, N.Y.

Albert Nassar F Stuart, Fla.

James Southerland F Bayside, N.Y.

LouisvilleNAME POS. HOMETOWN

Russ Smith G Brooklyn, N.Y.

Peyton Siva G Seattle, Wash.

Kevin Ware G Bronx, N.Y.

Gorgui Dieng C Kebemer, Senegal

Luke Hancock F Roanoke, Va.

Mangok Mathiang C Melbourne, Australia

Logan Baumann G Hartford, Ky.

Tim Henderson G Louisville, Ky.

Wayne Blackshear G/F Chicago, Ill.

Chane Behanan F Cincinnati, Ohio

Jordan Bond G Louisville, Ky.

Montrezl Harrell F Tarboro, N.C.

Zach Prise C Cleveland, Ohio

Michael Baffour G Smithfield, R.I.

Stephan Van Treese F Indianapolis, Ind.

Louisville leads the Big East with a plus-6.1 turnover margin. The Cardinals force opponents into nearly 19 turn-overs per game.

6.1BIG NUMBER

STATS TO KNOW

TEAM ROSTERS

Week 8Syracuse dropped six spots after losing to Temple 83-79 at Madison Square Garden.

In the cards

m a rc h 1 - 3 , 2 0 13 3s p o r t s @ d a i l y o r a n g e . c o m

GORGUI DIENG6-11 245 lb.

9.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg

JIM BOEHEIM912-310

37 seasons

RAKEEM CHRISTMAS6-9 242 lb.

5.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg

RICK PITINO652-239

28 seasons

Dieng is one of the most dominant centers in the Big East. Christmas isn’t a tre-mendous offensive presence, but he’s strong defensively in the low post.

This is the final time Boeheim faces his former mentee Pitino in the regular season as Big East foes. But they’ll meet again when Louisville moves to the ACC in 2014.

MICHAEL CARTER-WILLIAMS6-6 185 lb.

12.5 ppg, 7.9 apg

BRANDON TRICHE6-4 210 lb.

14.5 ppg, 3.7 apg

JERAMI GRANT6-8 203 lb.

4.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg

C.J. FAIR6-8 215 lb.

14.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg

PEYTON SIVA6-0 185 lb.

10.1 ppg, 6 apg

RUSS SMITH6-0, 165 lb.

18.4 ppg, 2.9 apg

WAYNE BLACKSHEAR6-5 230 lb.

8.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg

CHANE BEHANAN6-6 250 lb.

11 ppg, 7.5 rpg

With Louisville’s press defense, Siva could be a headache for Carter-Williams. He’ll try to get underneath him and poke the ball away. MCW sometimes struggles to take care of the ball.

Smith is second in the Big East in scoring. Triche has been up and down this year, but Syracuse could use a big performance from him against Louisville.

Grant doesn’t see too many minutes because James Southerland usually replaces him early in the game, but his height advantage could help him Saturday.

Fair is undoubtedly the most consistent player in Syracuse’s lineup, turning in double-figure performances in seemingly every game. Behanan is sixth in the Big East in rebounding.

STARTING LINEUPSPOINT GUARD

SHOOTING GUARD

SMALL FORWARD

POWER FORWARD

CENTER

COACHES

4 m a rc h 1 - 3 , 2 0 13 s p o r t s @ d a i l y o r a n g e . c o m

t h e i n d e p e n d e n t s t u d e n t n e w s p a p e r o f s y r a c u s e , n e w y o r k

Sports Editor Chris IsemanPresentation Director Lizzie HartCopy Chief Maddy BernerPhoto Editor Chase GaewskiAsst. Sports Editor Jacob KlingerAsst. Sports Editor David WilsonAsst. Photo Editor Sam MallerDesign Editor Ankur PatankarAsst. Copy Editor Phil D’AbbraccioAsst. Copy Editor Trevor Hass

Laurence LeveilleMANAGING EDITOR

Mark CooperEDITOR IN CHIEF

General Manager Peter WaackIT Director Mike EscalanteIT Assistant Alec Coleman Advertising Manager William LeonardAdvertising Representative Jeanne CloydAdvertising Representative Carolina GarciaAdvertising Representative Paula Vallina Advertising Representative Sam WeinbergAdvertising Designer Olivia AccardoAdvertising Designer Abby LeggeAdvertising Designer Yoli Worth

front page photo by ryan maccammon | staff photographer

Business Intern Tim BennettCirculation Manager Harold HeronCirculation Alexander BushCirculation Chris FreemanCirculation Alexandra KoskorisCirculation Arianna RogersCirculation Suzanne SirianniCirculation Charis SlueSpecial Projects Rose PiconSpecial Projects Runsu Huang

TODAY TOMORROW SUNDAY

H36| L23 H30| L18 H34| L16

ryan maccammon | staff photographer

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By Michael CohenSTAFF WRITER

T here were six turnovers in a span of 10 possessions. A seven-point lead became a six-point deficit.

There were eight baskets allowed and only one defensive stop. A road win over a ranked opponent became the fifth loss in nine games.

A chaotic stretch from the 8:05 mark of the second half to the final 90 seconds of Monday’s loss to Marquette resulted in Syracuse’s unrav-eling, a far different result than the upset of Louisville roughly a month earlier.

And for C.J. Fair, there was one clear differ-ence.

“I just think we lost our composure at the end,” Fair said at practice Thursday. “I think that’s what kind of hurts us late in games sometimes. If we go down four or five points with a few minutes left, there is still enough time to come back. We just have to take our time with that.”

Saturday’s date with the 10th-ranked Car-dinals (23-5, 11-4 Big East) is the next exercise in composure for Syracuse (22-6, 10-5). It’s the rematch of one of college basketball’s most excit-ing games of the season — a game in which clutch plays by the Orange made the difference — and has major implications for seeding in the upcoming conference tournament. Chan-

neling that inner calmness displayed at the KFC Yum! Center back in January could be key for the Orange to avoid its first three-game losing streak since the 2010-11 season.

The contrast between Monday’s loss to Mar-quette and the heart-stopping win over Lou-isville is monumental. With a four-point lead over the Cardinals and 4:37 on the clock, the Syracuse offense shriveled but did not panic in front of a raucous crowd on Jan. 19.

A scoring drought for nearly four minutes ensued, and Louisville surged back in front to take the lead with 1:58 remaining.

But the team without its second leading scorer at that time, the team playing a true freshman in his place, found the resolve and grit to rise up. Out went James Southerland, in came Jerami Grant.

Syracuse still battled.“We didn’t give up,” Fair said. “I’m not say-

ing we gave up against Marquette, but at Lou-isville, we were determined to win that game.”

A rapid-fire steal and dunk by Michael Cart-er-Williams with 23 seconds remaining put the Orange on top once more, 69-68, and represented the game’s final lead change. The SU point guard shrugged off a hellish start — six turn-overs in the first half — to seize the moment and simply make a play.

Monday night in Marquette was an identical

scenario with an antithetical outcome. As Syracuse’s lead and offensive production

dried up, so too did its poise. A 53-46 lead grew brittle and broke as Carter-Williams turned the ball over or missed a 3-point shot on four out of five possessions. Turnovers by Brandon Triche

and Baye Moussa Keita elongated the implosion, giving Marquette a six-minute window of bad basketball on which to capitalize.

“We had some untimely turnovers,” assis-tant coach Gerry McNamara said after practice Thursday. “If you really look at how the game progressed, we were really good, I thought. For the majority of the game we controlled pace — we obviously were hurt on the glass and on the free-throw line — but offensively, we did so many more good things than bad.

“What happened was we just turned the ball over in the wrong spots.”

And so for just the second time all season, Syracuse faces a bit of adversity. It overcame the

loss of Southerland, who has since returned, but must win Saturday to avoid falling out of the top five in the Big East standings.

McNamara said the team responded well in practice this week, showing no signs of let-ting the previous two losses linger. The ques-

tion becomes which Syracuse team shows up in the closing stages of what should be another close game.

Frazzled and frantic, or cool and composed?“You go one of two ways,” McNamara said.

“If you face a little bit of adversity, you could lose a team, or a team could come together. Are you going to feel sorry for yourself, or is it going to motivate you to get back on track?

“I see all indications that these guys are motivated to get better.”

Mjcohe02@syr.edu

@Michael_Cohen13

FIGHT TO THE FINISH

After struggling to close out games, Syracuse looks to sort out 2nd-half woes against Louisville

“We didn’t give up. I’m not saying we gave up against Marquette, but at Louisville, we were determined to win that game.”

C.J. FairSU FORWARD

ryan maccammon | staff photographer

C.J. FAIR and the No. 12 Orange will need to take care of the ball Saturday against a tenacious No. 10 Louisville team that leads the Big East with 18.8 turn-overs forced per game. The Cardinals’ plus-6.11 turnover margin is the best in the conference, and they rank No. 3 in the nation with nearly 11 steals per game.

s p o r t s @ d a i l y o r a n g e . c o m6 m a rc h 1 - 3 , 2 0 13

I t’s natural to search for answers. Losses incite the need to find reasons and to insist a change is needed. Syracuse’s six losses,

especially its last two, have created that type of swirling concern.

You can search as much as you want, but in the end, a lot of it comes down to parity rarely seen before in college basketball. Syracuse has losses and flaws. So do top teams across the nation.

Nothing’s normal in college basketball. The rankings are shuffled from week to week. Teams expected to sit at the top have slid up, down and out of the top 10. Teams that have had little to no shot at being ranked have upended top-five teams.

Four different teams have spent time ranked

No. 1. Indiana has spent 10 weeks in the top spot. The Hoosiers have three losses to unranked teams while playing as No. 1.

Thirteen different teams have spent some portion of the season ranked in the top five in The Associated Press Top 25 poll. Of those 13, seven

of them have at least three losses to unranked teams, and two of them have two losses to unranked teams. Miami, who shocked the nation and stormed up the rankings to as high as No. 2, got trounced by Wake Forest 80-65 last week.

The most recent shocking upset came just Wednesday, when Penn State, who was 0-14 in the Big Ten, upset No. 4 Michigan 84-78. That loss is far worse than any Syracuse has suffered, and yet the Wolverines sit eight spots ahead of the Orange in the rankings. Michigan made only five of its 20 3-point attempts, and let Nittany Lions guard Jermaine Marshall go off for 25 points, 18 of them coming on 3s.

This season is completely unpredictable. Even though the Orange is coming off of

back-to-back losses for the second time this season, there’s no reason to discount Syracuse’s ability to make a deep run in the NCAA Tour-nament. The same inconsistency that’s plagued SU has struck other top teams, as well.

It’s the nature of the sport this year. There’s no denying the Orange’s losses came

with some particularly bad shooting and defen-sive breakdowns. And without a dominant inside presence, Syracuse could be at a disadvantage.

Syracuse has six losses, and four of them came to unranked teams. But none of the Orange’s losses came to particularly bad teams. The weak-est Big East team Syracuse fell to is Villanova, and the Wildcats also upended Marquette and Connecticut, two teams the Orange lost to.

Every single team is vulnerable this season. We all know Syracuse has flaws. The Orange isn’t a great shooting team and often struggles on the glass. SU’s been outrebounded in nine games this season, five of those being losses. Correct either of those issues and Syracuse

becomes a near dominant team. But while Syracuse has its imperfections,

so does every other team. And it’s shown by the incredible amount of upsets.

There have been so many upsets this season, court-storming is starting to lose its significance.

Having success in both the Big East and NCAA tournaments is all about getting hot at the right time. If Syracuse finishes the regular season strongly and carries momentum through the conference championship, making a deep run in the NCAA is a likely possibility.

Any of the top-10 teams have a legitimate shot at winning the championship. Syracuse sits at No. 12 and should be in the conversation for Final Four contenders.

“When you lose a game, it doesn’t necessar-ily mean you have to revamp everything,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said after his team’s loss to Marquette. “We lost a game.”

The panic that Syracuse is suddenly not capable of beating elite teams is an overreac-tion. This is a particularly difficult stretch in the Orange’s season where four of its final five games are against ranked teams, including two (Louisville and Georgetown) in the top 10.

Teams up and down the top 10 are capable of a loss to a team outside of the Top 25 at any point. Despite any of its six losses, Syracuse stands a chance to make a deep run, especially if it irons out its flaws in the next couple of weeks.

Those flaws have cost the Orange at times this season. It’s no different than any other team in the country.

Chris Iseman is the sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears

occasionally. He can be reached at cjiseman@syr.edu or on Twitter at @chris_iseman.

C H R I S I S E M A N

don’t do ‘em like that

Despite recent struggles, Syracuse still contender in parity-filled NCAA landscape

andrew renneisen | staff photographer MICHAEL CARTER-WILLIAMS and the Orange still have a chance to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament despite their inconsistent shooting and lackadaisical rebounding.

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ALIGNING VIEWPOINTS

“Football is running our country right now.”

“If they had signed the TV deal for $17 million per school, I guess they are signing one now for about 2.5. That was a good decision. Big East brought it on themselves. Sign the TV deal and nothing would have happened. They were going to get more money? Didn’t work out that way.”

“This audience knows why we are doing this. There’s two reasons: money and football.”

“Let those people play their games. They’re going to be doing that for the next 20 years. I’d like to see them figure it out and get it all done in the next year and we wouldn’t have to think about it.”

“So like I said, if these guys were running the United States in colonial times, Brazil and Argentina would be states because they have something we need. It’s a great country. Have a good Thanksgiving.”

“My problem is not them leaving. My problem is you did it in 48 hours. Don’t run away with a girl after one date when you’ve been dating someone else for three or four years. You’ve been dating this woman for 30 years, show a little respect.”

“Somewhere along the line, all those Catholic schools may get tired of all this nonsense and say, ‘Listen, we’ve had enough of you football schools. We’re just going to break up and we’re going to form our own great basketball league.’ That’s the danger of it all.”

“(The Occupy protesters) left Wall Street. They stopped picketing Wall Street and they stormed the Atlantic Coast Conference

for more corporate greed.”

“I think, without question, the ‘Catholic 7’ deserves the Big East name. They should have, in my estimation, broken away from the football schools three years ago. I think they waited way too long. They should have been fed up a long time ago.”

sam maller | asst. photo editor

courtesy of university of louisville athletics

BOEHEIM

PITINO

J im Boeheim and Rick Pitino have both been outspoken about conference realignment and its effects. Syracuse is joining the Big East next season, and Louisville will follow in 2014. Here’s a look at some of Boeheim and Pitino’s quotes about the constantly shifting conferences:

—Compiled by The Daily Orange sports staff

s p o r t s @ d a i l y o r a n g e . c o m8 m a rc h 1 - 3 , 2 0 13

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By Ryne Gery STAFF WRITER

No. 12 Syracuse will look to rebound from consecutive losses when it takes on No. 10 Louisville in the Carrier Dome at noon on Sat-urday. The Orange beat the then-No. 1 Cardi-nals 70-68 at the KFC Yum! Center in January, highlighted by some late-game heroics from Michael Carter-Williams. Louisville comes into the game tied for second place in the con-ference, while the Orange sits in fourth place with Notre Dame. The Daily Orange caught up with Noah Allison of The Louisville Cardinal to breakdown Saturday’s rematch between the Orange and the Cardinals.

The Daily Orange: It seems like everything’s coming together right now for Louisville with seven wins in its last eight games. What has been the key to this run for the Cardinals?Noah Allison: After the five-overtime loss at Notre Dame, the team and “Card Nation” were quite dejected, it was physically and emotion-ally exhausting for all. It was also a wake-up call for how the team needed to approach this final

portion of the season – professionally. They have tightened the hatches and each player is really locked in on what they need to do as an individual for the team to have overall success. Since that Notre Dame loss, the Cardinals have gotten back to turning the ball over at a high level and imposing their will on the opponents again.

The D.O.: Louisville had a tough stretch after its loss to Syracuse back in January. How has the team changed and developed since that first matchup?NA: Following the three-game losing streak after being ranked No. 1 for the first time in the regular season, the team took notice of how important finishing the games were. In those three losses, Louisville had the opportunity to control their own destiny to win, and in two of the three losses gave up the lead late in the game to lose. The team has not changed its style very much since the first matchup – it will most likely be another tough grind of a game.

The D.O.: As the regular season winds down,

how do you think Peyton Siva has lived up to his selection as the Big East’s Preseason Player of the Year?NA: Peyton Siva has undoubtedly had a huge impact on Louisville’s success this year and has had a very good senior season. He will not win Big East player of the Year, though. Maybe if he hadn’t made the inadvisable pass against Syracuse, maybe if he had hit the game-tying shot at Georgetown and maybe if he had had shinier numbers, but he didn’t.

The D.O.: Who has been the Cardinals’ most valuable player this season?NA: It really is quite impossible to say who the team MVP would be at this point of the season. This truly is a “team” by the definition of it, and no one person has made the team what it is. The Cardinals were able to win all but one of their games when Gorgui Dieng was injured for a month, but there is no way the Cardinals would have had this sort of Big East success without Dieng. The team would hardly have been able to run an offense without Peyton Siva being the ultimate game-handler, but then again, Russ

Smith is automatic offense having practically carried the team by himself at some points of the season. The MVP would have to go to one of those three for the regular season, but there is still too much time to tell who will ultimately prove most valuable.

The D.O.: At this point, what do you think the ceiling is for Louisville in the NCAA Tourna-ment? What does this team need to do to make a run at the Final Four?NA: In order to make it to the Final Four, Louisville needs what every team needs: to click at the right time and draw the right teams. The Cardinals seek to wreak havoc and make the game chaotic and not very pretty – a bad matchup would be, say, a Notre Dame who likes to slow the game down and make them play half-court offense the whole time. On the other hand, the team’s depth and ability to withstand foul trouble will play a major role in one of the Cardinals’ tournament games. Like I mentioned earlier, the greatest attribute this team has is that it truly is a “team.”

rjgery@syr.edu

Q&A with The Louisville Cardinal beat writer Noah Allison

Is watching the game not in the cards?Follow @DOsports for live updates and check out Monday’s paper for coverage

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LAST TIME THEY PLAYED

F or 39 minutes, Michael Carter-Williams played the goat. Turnovers piled up – eight in all. Shots misfired and

clanked off of the rim – he finished 4-for-13 from the field. But when it mattered most, he delivered.

With 26 seconds left, Louisville guard Peyton Siva fired a pass to Wayne Blackshear. Carter-Williams leapt in the way, intercepting the ball and fin-ishing a two-handed slam with 23 sec-onds remaining to put Syracuse up one. “It was just all off adrenaline,” the SU point guard said after the game. “I just owed it to my teammates and to my coaches and to finish that play and to win the game.”

Carter-Williams knocked down a free throw on the Orange’s next possession, and came away with a steal on the one after to ice then-No. 6 Syracuse’s 70-68 upset of the No. 1 team in the country in front of 22,814 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

The Orange jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead, forcing a UofL timeout. SU stretched its lead to as large as eight points before the Cardinals battled back.

Carter-Williams turned the ball over at a rapid rate – five in the first eight-plus minutes – but Syracuse still held a lead. But with 10:26 remaining in the first half, Cardinals guard Kevin Ware drilled a 3-pointer to give Louisville a 19-18 lead. The Orange wouldn’t lead again until 15-plus minutes into the second half.

They would, however, hold a tie going into halftime after a Carter-Williams 3 with seven seconds left in the half – his

first to that point – evened the game at 38.“They forced me to turn the ball over,

obviously, and I just knew that I was better than that, better than I was playing in terms of turning the ball over,” Carter-Williams said. “It was tough, but I didn’t lose faith in myself and I kept attacking.”

The Cardinals wasted no time respond-ing, though. Louisville scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second half to take a 48-40 lead. But SU kept battling, staying within six through the rest of the game.

With 7:37 remaining, Russ Smith jammed home a dunk to give Louisville a 62-57 lead. The Cardinals would score just six more points the rest of the way.

“They made some really terrific defen-sive plays down the stretch and that was the game,” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. “Give them credit, they made the plays.”

It set the stage for Carter-Williams’ heroics. Even on a day when shooting guard Brandon Triche was the one keep-ing Syracuse in the game with 23 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 first half, the point guard, instead, was the one who came up with the crunch-time plays.

His first 20 minutes were a disaster, and much of the next 19 didn’t go much better. But in the end, it was redemption for the Orange’s polarizing point guard.

“It’s not how you start all the time, it’s how you finish,” Triche said. “And I think he finished a game that he should, he finished in a way that pretty much won us the game.”

-- Compiled by David Wilson, asst. sports editor, dbwilson@syr.edu

“They forced me to turn the ball over, obviously, and I just knew that I was better than that,

better than I was playing in terms of turning the ball over. It was tough, but I didn’t lose

faith in myself and I kept attacking.”Michael Carter-Williams

SYRACUSE POINT GUARD

courtesy of the louisville courier-journal

MICHAEL CARTER-WILLIAMS led SU to a thrilling 70-68 win over then-No. 1 Louisville on Jan. 19. Carter-Williams had a rough first half but responded in the final minutes.

jan. 19: syracuse 70, louisville 68

s p o r t s @ d a i l y o r a n g e . c o m1 4 m a rc h 1 - 3 , 2 0 13

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AROUND THE NATIONNO. 3 DUKE (24-4, 11-4 ACC) VS. NO. 5 MIAMI (FLA.) (23-4, 14-1 ACC)Saturday, 6 p.m., ESPNThe Blue Devils will be out for revenge Saturday night in Durham, N.C. Miami obliterated Duke 90-63 when the teams met on Jan. 23. Duke only scored 19 points in the first half then, so getting off to a quick start will be key in the rematch. Seth Curry was 0-for-10 in the first meeting, and he’ll need to shine if Duke is to come away with a win.

The Hurricanes are out to prove their win wasn’t a fluke. In that game, Miami shot a scorch-ing 56.9 percent, while Duke finished at 29.7. Durand Scott and Kenny Kadji punished the Blue Devils, finishing with 25 and 22 points, respec-tively. Despite their dominant start to the Atlantic Coast Conference season, the Hurricanes only average 69 points per game, which puts them at 136th in the nation.

Key to the game: Mason Plumlee, forward, Duke – While Duke has talent top to bottom, Plumlee is most likely to have a breakout game against Miami. The 6-foot-10 big man has dropped 30-plus twice this season, and his trademark fake-right-go-left move is hard to stop, even when expected.

NO. 20 BUTLER (22-6, 9-4 ATLANTIC 10) VS. VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH (22-6, 10-3)Saturday, noon, ESPN2

Butler has lost two of its last four, and is in need of a win over VCU. After losing to St. Louis for the second time this season, Brad Stevens’ squad is one game behind the Rams, so a lot’s on the line Saturday. Khyle Marshall and Roos-evelt Jones are key for the BU. When Butler hits 3s it’s tough to beat.

Darius Theus is averaging close to five assists per game, which is fourth in the Atlantic 10, and is a key piece of the puzzle for VCU. The Rams boast the highest scoring offense in the conference at 77.4 points per game, and have scored more than 90 points seven times this season. Slowing down the Rams’ run-and-gun attack won’t be an easy task for Butler.

Key to the game: Rotnei Clarke, guard, Butler – Clarke’s scoring average has gone up in each of the past four seasons. This year, he scores at a clip of 17 per game while shooting 88 percent from the free-throw line. The sharpshooter has nailed at least two 3s in Butler’s last nine games, including two games with five 3-pointers.

NO. 13 KANSAS STATE (23-5, 12-3 BIG 12) VS. BAYLOR (17-11, 8-7 BIG 12)Saturday, 7 p.m., ESPN2Kansas State is clicking at the right time. The Wildcats have won eight of their last nine games, with the only loss coming to Kansas. KSU has quietly climbed its way up the rankings and now sits at No. 13 slot. Rodney McGruder’s stats in the past five games have been bizarre. He’s scored 20, 10, 10, 20 and 10. The Wildcats may need a 20-plus-point performance to come away with a win at Baylor.

The Bears are just 2-7 against the top 50, and 4-9 against the top 100. Currently mired in a serious slump, Baylor is falling apart at the wrong time. A win over Kansas State would help propel BU in the right direction. Pierre Jackson’s put the team on his back as of late, but he’ll need A.J. Walton, Isaiah Austin and Co. to step up against KSU.

Key to the game: Brady Heslip, guard, Baylor – All of Brady Heslip’s numbers are down from a year ago. Last year, he was one of the nation’s deadliest shooters, but this year, he’s taken a backseat to Gary Harris and Nik Stauskas, among others. Heslip is shooting just 39 percent from the 3 and 79 percent from the line com-pared to 45.5 and 92 percent a year ago.

NO. 4 MICHIGAN (23-5, 10-5 BIG TEN) VS. NO. 9 MICHIGAN STATE (22-6, 11-4)Sunday, 4 p.m., CBSEvery Big Ten matchup is a crucial one. Sunday’s game is no different, as Michigan and Michigan State jockey for conference positioning. The Wol-verines have lost four of their last seven games, and aren’t playing like a team that ripped off 16 in a row to start the season. Michigan got essentially no production from its bench in a loss to cellar-dwellers Penn State, which could be a problem moving forward.

MSU’s Gary Harris is emerging as one of the better players in the Big Ten. He’s shooting 43 percent from downtown and has superior strength and agility compared to most shoot-first snipers. Despite Harris’ strong showing, MSU has struggled lately as well, losing its last two games.

Key to the game: Adreian Payne, forward, Michigan State – Payne tends to blend into the background and rarely takes over games. He may be the Spartans’ best shot to beat Michigan on Sunday. Because the Wolverines’ guards are so explosive, MSU will rely on scoring from its forwards. A dominant performance from Payne would likely pave the way to a Spartan victory.

—Compiled by Trevor Hass, asst. copy editor, tbhass@syr.edu

courtesy of butler university ROTNEI CLARKE has emerged as Butler’s top long-range shooting threat. The guard has connected on at least two 3-pointers in each of the Bulldogs’ last nine contests.

DAILYORANGE.COM

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AROUND THE BIG EASTGames to watchNO. 21 NOTRE DAME AT NO. 22 MARQUETTE, SATURDAY, 2 P.M., ESPNIn front of a national audience, No. 22 Marquette hosts No. 21 Notre Dame in a matchup between two of the Big East’s top five teams. A win could move the Golden Eagles into a first-place tie if red-hot Georgetown is slowed down this weekend.

Winners of three of its last four, second-place Marquette bounced back from a loss Saturday at unranked Villanova with a home upset over No. 12 Syracuse on Monday. Against the Orange, for-ward Davante Gardner stole the show with a 26-point, eight-rebound performance off of the bench. After being a nonfactor in 11 minutes against the Wildcats, Gardner shot an efficient 7-of-7 from the field and, like the rest of his team, was superb from the charity stripe, converting 12-of-13 from the line. The 6-foot-8, 290-pound junior consistently outworked Syracuse’s inferior big men on the glass.

But to counter Gardner underneath the boards, the Fighting Irish boast the top rebounder in the conference in Jack Cooley. Cooley has recorded eight or more boards in 11 consecutive games and 27 of ND’s 28 contests. In its current two-game winning streak, ND’s scoring has been evenly distributed, as four players scored in double digits in the Irish’s win over Cincinnati on Sunday.

At 10-5 in Big East play, Notre Dame shares fourth place with Syracuse, and with a win, could jump the Orange should SU lose Saturday. But the Irish will need Cooley to maintain his rebound-ing prowess, and ND can’t lose sight of MU’s Gardner when shots are mid-air. If the game becomes a free-throw contest in the final minutes, both of these teams are capable of taking advantage at the line – each team shot upwards of 80 percent in its last game.

RUTGERS AT NO. 7 GEORGETOWN , SATURDAY, 9 P.M., ESPNUNo team in the Big East – maybe even the country – is as hot as No. 7 Georgetown. After dropping three of five games in January, the Hoyas have ripped off 10 consecutive victories, one of only nine active double-digit winning streaks in the country.

Unranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, Georgetown has surged into the top 10 behind the stellar play of forward Otto Porter, who’s averaging 18.9 points per game during the win-ning streak. Only a sophomore, Porter exploded for 33 points on 63-percent shooting to lead a gritty upset in front of a record crowd at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome on Saturday. To extend the Hoyas’ win-ning streak on Wednesday, Porter scored five points in double overtime, including a game-winning layup with nine seconds remaining, to edge Connecticut.

At 4-11 in-conference and not far from the bottom of the league, Rutgers is handed the difficult task of subduing Georgetown this weekend. The Scarlet Knights have lost nine of their last 10 games, with only a two-point win over lowly Seton Hall saving them from a 10-game skid. In the process, Rutgers has dropped from 12-4 overall to a mediocre 13-13. With a matchup against GU on Saturday and Marquette waiting, the Scarlet Knights’ hopes of a winning record appear doubtful.

The Hoyas traveled to Rutgers on Feb. 9 and despite being tied at halftime, held off the Scarlet Knights as Porter finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. RU may look to versatile 6-foot-6 swing-man Dane Miller, who’s regarded as the team’s best defender, to guard Porter on Saturday. But if Miller defends Porter as well as his recent opponents have, then Georgetown shouldn’t have an issue extending its run and cushioning its seat at the top of the Big East.

VILLANOVA AT NO. 23 PITTSBURGH, SUNDAY, NOON, ESPN3In a battle of two middle-of-the-pack teams, Villanova and No. 23 Pittsburgh square off for the sec-ond time this season. Pittsburgh won by 15 back on Jan. 16.

After a grueling stretch in which it faced five ranked opponents in six games, Pittsburgh has cruised past St. John’s and South Florida by an average of 18 points. In the Panthers’ latest win, a 20-point beatdown of South Florida on Wednesday, guard Tray Woodall led the team with 14 points, while Steven Adams dominated the paint with five blocks and six rebounds in just 16 minutes on the floor. In Pitt’s win at St. John’s on Sunday afternoon, Woodall scored a season-high 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting.

Villanova’s season hit its highlight with consecutive home upsets over then-top 5 teams Lou-isville and Syracuse in late January. Since then, Villanova’s continued to improve its NCAA Tournament resume with a win over then-No. 17 Marquette on Saturday. But the Wildcats go into this weekend coming off of a one-point loss to Seton Hall in which they shot 22 percent from 3-point range. Freshman guard Ryan Arcidiacono was the team’s stopper in February, as he scored 23 points against DePaul and 25 against Connecticut – two games that followed a Villanova loss.

With Georgetown on its schedule after Pittsburgh, Villanova will need to play its best basketball down the stretch to improve its seeding in the Big East tournament. But Pittsburgh boasts the No. 1 scoring defense in the league, a unit that has limited its opponents to 55 points or fewer in all but one game throughout February.

—Compiled by Phil D’Abbraccio, asst. copy editor, pmdabbra@syr.edu

ScheduleSaturdayNo. 10 Louisville at No. 12 Syracuse Noon CBSConnecticut at Cincinnati 2 p.m. ESPN3No. 21 Notre Dame at No. 22 Marquette 2 p.m. ESPNSt. John’s at Providence 8 p.m. ESPN3Rutgers at No. 7 Georgetown 9 p.m. ESPNUSundayVillanova at No. 23 Pittsburgh Noon ESPN3DePaul at South Florida 2 p.m. ESPN3

After the game, see a gallery of the action on dailyorange.com

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A position-by-position look at the game

POINT GUARDThe Cardinals are on a four-game winning streak during which Peyton Siva has averaged 9.25 points per game. More importantly, he’s averaged six assists per game in the past two weeks. Like Michael Carter-Williams, Siva is at his best as a distributor in a transition offense. Both floor generals tend to stagnate in the halfcourt. But it’s there Siva does a better job of creating for himself, cut-ting to the rim and opening up kickouts. Carter-Williams has found himself in a scoring funk, too often forcing shots from the perimeter while Siva is finding his form down the back end of the Big East stretch.

Advantage: Louisville

SHOOTING GUARDRuss Smith is the leading scorer for the conference’s most potent offense. Brandon Triche is a more-than-sol-id defender in his own right, averaging the 1.4 steals per game that are so crucial in keeping the Orange from fall-ing into its half-court doldrums. But Smith is one of the country’s most explosive scorers and a Naismith Award finalist for good reason. Worse still for SU is that Smith is heating up in crunch time, averaging 19.2 points per game in his last five outings, including 21 points against then-No. 25 Notre Dame, albeit in five overtimes. Triche may keep Smith from exploding on the Orange, but 15 points or fewer from the Louisville shooter would be a pleasant surprise for SU as Smith promises to stretch the limits of the 2-3 zone.

Advantage: Louisville

BENCHBoth teams will roll about seven deep if the game is close. Jim Boeheim will call on James Southerland and, to a lesser extent, Trevor Cooney. Rick Pitino can look to Kevin Ware and Luke Hancock. The Syracuse subs mainly offer more shooting range, as do Ware and Hancock. If the game becomes more of an interior battle, though, Keita will indirectly take minutes from Cooney. And as long as Coleman’s role remains unclear, Southerland is the difference-maker. Southerland could start for either team, and is likely to drop about 15 points while adding size and length to the Orange’s perimeter defense.

Advantage: Syracuse

CENTERSyracuse has yet to find a reliable center this year. Rakeem Christmas will get the start and rotate in and out with Baye Moussa Keita. DaJuan Coleman might even see some minutes. Center-by-committee is not flawed by nature, but SU’s stable of big men is. The Orange’s outrebounding of Louisville back in January 36-31 was critical to the upset of the then-No. 1 Cardinals. SU’s centers have tanked since, and Gorgui Dieng is coming off a pair of solid per-formances. Syracuse’s team defense should keep Dieng in check, but he’ll still win this battle.

Advantage: Louisville

POWER FORWARDThrough invisible displays from Orange big men to the suspension of high-scoring James Southerland, C.J. Fair has hardly wavered. He’s hit double digits in scor-ing in every game since the Dec. 22 win over Temple, and rarely leaves the floor. Chane Behanan is a force, though, and will mainly test Fair on the glass where both average about 7.5 rebounds per game. But Behanan can’t keep up with Fair’s scoring, and the SU forward is likely to rip a ball or two out of his hands. It’s just a matter of how quickly the Orange can get those posses-sions to the other end of the floor.

Advantage: Syracuse

SMALL FORWARDIn many respects, Jerami Grant and Wayne Blackshear are similar. They both start and play significant, but not massive, minutes. Grant though, has starkly fallen from the high-flying performances he turned in during James Southerland’s suspension. Blackshear has qui-etly ticked along, letting the Cardinals’ stars do most of the scoring, only chipping in where he’s needed. Grant’s capable of a big performance, though. He scored 10 points and had five rebounds when SU upset Louisville on the road Jan. 19. But if the last few games are anything to go by, he won’t see enough of the floor to make a difference in the return leg of the series.

Advantage: Louisville

—Compiled by Jacob Klinger, asst. sports editor

jmklinge@syr.edu

ON THE BLOCK

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STEALS PER GAMETURNOVERS PER GAME

ASSISTS PER GAMEREBOUNDS PER GAME

FREE-THROW PERCENTAGEOPPONENTS’ FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGE

FIELD-GOAL PERCENTAGEPOINTS ALLOWED PER GAME

POINTS PER GAME7459.744.737.168.4 39.515.112.59.5

74.458.544.639.171.138.3

1512.7

10.8

STATISTICS

March 6 6 p.m. DePaul

March 9 noon @Georgetown

REMAINING SCHEDULES

March 4 7 p.m. Cincinnati

March 9 4 p.m. Notre Dame

HEAD TO HEAD

SYRACUSE LOUISVILLE

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DEPAUL2-13, 11-17

ST. JOHN’S8-7, 16-11

SETON HALL3-13, 14-15

NOTRE DAME10-5, 22-6

CINCINNATI7-8, 19-9

GEORGETOWN12-3, 22-4

MARQUETTE11-4, 20-7

RUTGERS4-11, 13-13

VILLANOVA9-7, 18-11

PITTSBURGH10-6, 22-7

CONNECTICUT9-6, 19-8

PROVIDENCE7-8, 15-12

LOUISVILLE11-4, 23-5

SOUTH FLORIDA1-14, 10-17

12

2

4

46

7

8

910

10

12

13

14

15

SYRACUSE10-5, 22-6

BIG EASTSTANDINGS

The Daily Orange is putting together a series of profiles highlighting individuals who exemplify the Syracuse University community. Everyone — students, faculty, staff, community members and more — is eligible.

Fill out the form online at dailyorange.com to nominate an individual you think answers the question of Who is Syracuse.

The form will be open for nominations from Feb. 17 to March 17, and individuals will be chosen by The Daily Orange editors soon after. The series, “Who is Syracuse,” will be published in The Daily Orange in April.

Please contact editor@dailyorange.com with any questions.

WHO IS SYRACUSE?

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PERSPECTIVES

Who will win the Syracuse-Louisville game on Saturday?

“I just feel like they have a lot of reasons to win. I feel like it would be good motivation to end the season, to have a better spot in the Big East tournament and the March Madness bracket.”

Caitlyn CohnFRESHMAN COMMUNICATION AND

RHETORICAL STUDIES MAJOR

“I’m optimistic that we’ll win, but I don’t know if we will because we’ve always seemed to have trouble with Louisville in the past. I think their coach knows how to play against us, so it might be tough.”

James PashSENIOR BIOLOGY MAJOR

“I do believe they’ll win this weekend. I think we have a really good team and they can come back from the upsets that we’ve had. We’ve been able to in the past.”

Brandon LaneSENIOR BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING MAJOR

“Syracuse is gonna win. After the Georgetown game we have so much enthusiasm to win this game. All the hype in the Georgetown game is giving us motivation to win against Louisville.”

Naim HusseinFRESHMAN ECONOMICS MAJOR

“Syracuse will because it’s the last Big East game against Louisville. We’ve got the rematch. We beat Louisville in Louisville last time, so we’ll be rockin’ the Dome. It’s going to be a fun time.”

Jake SoccorsoFRESHMAN COMPUTER ENGINEERING MAJOR

“Syracuse might lose if they have the poor shot selection they had in that Georgetown game. They were just throwing up 3s all over the place. They’re not going to beat Louisville a second time, which is a very good team.”

Kevin McCandlessJUNIOR BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING MAJOR

compiled by trevor hass | asst. copy editor photos by sam maller | asst. photo editor

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STAT OF THE DAYNumber of games the Chicago Blackhawks have gone without losing in regulation to start the season. The Blackhawks continued their season-opening streak with a 3-0 road win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

TWEET OF THE DAY@DaleSavage1 Did Pope Benedict really quit to become 1st Commish of Catholic 7?

With all due respect to Seattle, I do hope they get a team someday, but let me be perfectly clear it is not going to be this team. Not our team. No way.

Kevin JohnsonSACRAMENTO MAYOR

QUOTE OF THE DAY AT A GLANCE

See dailyorange.com

Rakeem Christmas/Baye Moussa Keita

DATE OPPONENTS POINTS REBOUNDS BLOCKS

2/27 Marquette 9 11 1

2/23 Georgetown 2 11 2

2/20 Providence 6 4 4

2/16 Seton Hall 3 5 2

2/13 Connecticut 2 10 5

CENTER OF ATTENTION

L ouisville’s Gorgui Dieng is one of the best centers in the Big East. He’s second in the conference, with an average of 2.6 blocked shots per game, and second in offensive rebounds with 3.7 per game. He’s a dominant force on both ends of the floor. Syracuse’s inside presence has been fleeting. DaJuan Coleman has been out for about a month

after knee surgery and is nearing a return to game action. Rakeem Christmas and Baye Moussa Keita have played significant minutes in the middle of the zone, but have had up-and-down per-formances. Here’s a look at the production Dieng has provided Louisville in the last five games, compared to the production Christmas and Keita have combined for in the same span:

Gorgui Dieng

DATE OPPONENT POINTS REBOUNDS BLOCKS

2/27 DePaul 10 4 1

2/23 Seton Hall 23 8 3

2/17 South Florida 4 10 5

2/14 St. John’s 10 17 2

CHRISTMAS

DIENG

KEITA

ryan maccammon | staff photographer KIYAN ANTHONY smiles and stands at center court in the Carrier Dome while his father Carmelo’s No. 15 jersey is raised to the rafters during halftime on Saturday.

20SU takes on Virginia on Friday.