Syracuse 92, Colgate 47: Red Raiders No Match For Orange

Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) – Exactly one week after Penn State’s football team played a game with controversy swirling around the program, the Syracuse men’s basketball team took the floor Saturday facing a similar situation.

The fifth-ranked Orange put the drama behind them and rolled to a 92-47 victory over the Colgate Raiders.

Long-time Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine was accused this week of molesting two former ball boys. Fine, who is in his 35th season at the university, was placed on administrative leave Thursday night. Syracuse police are in the early stages of an investigation of Fine.

Fine has vehemently denied the allegations. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim came to his long-time assistant’s defense Thursday with the following statement.

“This matter was fully investigated by the University in 2005 and it was determined that the allegations were unfounded. I have known Bernie Fine for more than 40 years. I have never seen or witnessed anything to suggest that he would be involved in any of the activities alleged. Had I seen or suspected anything, I would have taken action. Bernie has my full support.”

Fine’s usual seat was left vacant on Saturday. Boeheim was asked after the game what it was like without having Fine there.

“I’m not going to talk about that,” Boeheim said. “We’ve made all the statements we’re going to make. We’re going to focus on basketball like we did today. Everything will be determined outside our team.”

Dion Waiters had 16 points off the bench for the Orange (4-0), who shot 49.2 percent from the floor. James Southerland and C.J. Fair added 14 and 13 points, respectively, in a reserve role.

Pat Moore ended with 19 points for the Raiders (1-2), who have lost 45 straight games against Syracuse.

Holding a 12-10 lead five minutes into the game, Waiters scored seven straight points to spark a 40-19 Syracuse run. Southerland tallied 11 points during the huge burst to help the Orange take a 52-19 lead at the half.

Syracuse went on an 11-0 run during the middle stages of the second half to build a 77-34 lead.

For good measure, the Orange ended the game on a 12-2 burst.

Syracuse Basketball Schedule: Orange Host Colgate Saturday

(Sports Network) – The fifth-ranked Syracuse Orange are set for what certainly appears to be a mismatch against the Colgate Raiders Saturday at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse at 4 p.m.

Colgate opened its season with a narrow victory over Binghamton, but the next game yielded drastically different results. The Raiders dropped a 68-41 decision to Wisconsin, a team that plays tough defense much like this afternoon’s opponent. Colgate competes in the Patriot League and will play a rather modest non-conference slate after tonight’s affair.

Syracuse is 3-0. The Big East Conference power has won all three of its games by no fewer than 24 points, including Tuesday’s 98-74 romp over Albany. The Orange have not lost to the Red Raiders since 1962, despite playing them nearly every season.

Through two outings, Colgate is averaging just 59.5 ppg while allowing 71.0 ppg to opponents. The only double-digit scorer on the roster for the Raiders is Mike Venezia, as he is netting 14.0 ppg despite his 38.1 percent shooting from the field.

Kris Joseph has been impressive for Syracuse through the first three games of this new campaign, as he is netting 16.7 ppg on the strength of his 52.9 percent shooting from the field. Jam Southerland checks in with 13.7 ppg off the bench, and Dion Waiters is posting 13.0 ppg in a reserve role.

Seton Hall Vs. St. Joseph's: Pirates Sail Past The Hawks, 78-70

Seton Hall University improved to 3-0 on Friday night after defeating St. Joseph's by a score of 78-70 in the second round of the Charleston Classic at the TD Bank Arena in Charleston, South Carolina.

Junior point guard Carl Jones was on fire in the Hawks losing effort, nailing a career-high 38 points with four rebounds, three assists and three steals. St. Joe's actually led the Pirates 39-32 at the half, but let things slip away in the second frame, shooting just 41.7 percent from the floor.

From Hawks' coach Phil Martelli:

"This is not an excuse, but we had some young players who played young. Now, they have the experience of playing back-to-back nights and the next time that's going to happen is the Atlantic 10 tournament."

Seton Hall moves on to face Northwestern in this Sunday's title game while St. Joe's matches up against Tulsa for the bronze.

For more on the Pirates win in Charleston check out South Orange Juice.

St. John's-Texas A&M Final Score: Aggies Top The Red Storm, 58-57

Despite a second-half charge, the St. John's Red Storm fell to the Texas A&M Aggies by a final score of 58-57 Friday night at Madison Square Garden in the 2K Sports Classic.

Junior forward Ray Turner was the visitor's top performer, scoring 16 points with seven boards. The homers had freshman point guard Phil Greene leading the charge with 10 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal.

It wasn't enough.

The Red Storm had a chance to take the lead with two seconds left in the game; however, Nurideen Lindsey missed consecutive free throws, turning the ball back over to Texas A&M as time expired.

For more on the fallout from tonight's game check out Rumble in the Garden.

Big East Basketball: Seton Hall and St. John's Continue Tournament Action

The 2-0 Seton Hall Pirates will continue their run in the Charleston Classic tonight as they face off against the St. Joseph's Hawks. Both teams will be playing in the second of a back-to-back as the Hawks are coming off a 66-53 win over Georgia Tech and the Pirates are coming off a 69-54 victory against the Virginia Commonwealth Rams, led by sophomore Fuquan Edwin.   

Playing 35 minutes, hitting 6-of-8 from the floor and 4-of-5 from downtown, Edwin was the best player on the court tonight finishing with 19pts/9reb/3stl/blk.

For more on Edwin and the Pirates victory over VCU check out our blog, South Orange Juice.

The 3-1 St. John's Red Storm will also play a tournament game for the second consecutive night against the Texas A&M Aggies in the 2K Sports Classic at New York. Both the Red Storm and Aggies lost last night, to Arizona and Mississippi State, respectively. The Red Storm played tough, but ultimately could not handle the perimeter shooting of Arizona. 

St. John's attacked the Arizona Wildcats with a lot of toughness, rebounding around 75% of their misses. But it wasn't quite enough. Arizona was hot from the outside early and late, hitting 50% of their 28 perimeter attempts (they were 11 for 30 inside the arc - 37%).

For more on the St. John's Red Storm and an extended preview of tonight's game check out our blog, Rumble in the Garden. 

Rutgers Routs Sacred Heart 91-73--a Tale of Two Halves

For one half, at least, it all clicked. Dane Miller took charge, the defense forced a ton of turnovers, and the freshman drove the basket and scored. For the first time since 2005, 6 Scarlet Knights scored double figures. They survived a bumpy first half and finally looked like a team.

http://www.onthebanks.com/2011/11/17/2570336/rutgers-routs-sacred-heart-91-73-a-tale-of-two-halves

Seton Hall 69, VCU 54: Herb Pope Leads Pirates

Charleston, SC (Sports Network) – Herb Pope recorded his second straight double-double to open the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds as the Seton Hall Pirates defeated the VCU Rams, 69-54, in the quarterfinals of the Charleston Classic.

Jordan Theodore netted 20 points and Fuquan Edwin chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds for the Pirates (2-0), who held the Rams to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field.

With the departures of Joey Rodriguez, Jamie Skeen, Ed Nixon and Brandon Rozell, it will be a bit of a rebuilding process for the Rams (1-1) as they try to replace a senior class that won 103 games and led VCU to a stunning Final Four run a year ago.

Bradford Burgess is the marquee returnee and led all VCU scorers with 11 points.

Patrik Auda was ejected after elbowing Burgess with less than four minutes remaining in the first half. Auda exited with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting for the Pirates.

Auda, Pope and Edwin all contributed seven first-half points for Seton Hall, which took a 29-22 lead at the break.

Aided by a 16-3 run, the Pirates pulled away and took a commanding 57-38 advantage with less than seven minutes to play. Edwin hit two three-pointers and a pair from the charity stripe during the stretch.

— For more on Seton Hall see South Orange Juice

Arizona 81, St. John's 72: Red Storm Can't Hold Lead

New York, NY (Sports Network) – Solomon Hill scored 15 points, Kyle Fogg had 13 and No. 15 Arizona pulled away in the last four minutes to beat St. John’s, 81-72, on Thursday night.

The Wildcats spoiled the season debut for St. John’s at Madison Square Garden and advanced to the final of the 2K Sports Classic, where they will play Mississippi State on Friday.

Jordin Mayes added 12 points while Jesse Perry and Nick Johnson both scored 11 in the win for Arizona (4-0). Johnson made a couple of key three-pointers down the stretch.

“We’ve matured in every part of the game. You can really look out there and just see it on the floor,” Fogg said. “Although we have a long way to go, I think we’ve taken a lot of strides at this point and we’re going to keep working harder to get better.”

Nurideen Lindsey scored 18 points to lead the Red Storm (3-1), who will take on No. 19 Texas A&M in the consolation match, also on Friday. D’Angelo Harrison added 16 points in the loss, Moe Harkless had 13 and Phil Greene scored 12.

Mississippi State beat Texas A&M, 69-60, in Thursday’s first semifinal game.

St. John’s had an eight-point lead with 7:17 remaining after Lindsey’s layup made it 66-58, but Johnson buried a three-pointer at the other end to spark a 16-2 run by Arizona that turned the game around.

— See Rumble In The Garden for more about St. John’s

Big East Basketball Preview: St. John's, Rutgers, Seton Hall In Action Thursday

Big East Conference men's basketball is in full swing and Thursday night three of the four SB Nation New York programs, St. John's, Rutgers and Seton Hall, each have contests. Here's a brief look at the match ups.