The Syracuse Orange (ranked No. 9 in the AP Poll and No. 10 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll) will try to end a two-game losing streak Tuesday night as the Seton Hall Pirates visit the Carrier Dome (7 p.m. on SNY). Earlier in the season, Syracuse (18-2, 5-2) beat Seton Hall (8-12, 2-6), 61-56, Jan. 8, in Newark, NJ. Last week, the Orange lost to No. 2 Pittsburgh Panthers, 74-66, and No. 8/7 Villanova, 83-72. The two losses dropped SU from No. 3 to No. 9/10 in the latest college basketball polls, released Monday.The Pirates have lost three straight games -- their last coming against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Saturday -- and six of their last seven.
SU will be looking for better play from senior starting point guard Scoop Jardine, who went 1-for-8 from the field, netted just two points, dished out three assists and committed two turnovers against 'Nova. Because of his bad play, Jardine logged just 22 minutes, his lowest total during Big East play. At this point in the season, the trend continues to be that if Jardine is playing well, SU is playing very well. When No. 11 is struggling, SU is struggling.
Another problem that needs to be fixed is contribution from players not named junior forward Kris Joseph, senior forward Rick Jackson and sophomore guard Brandon Triche. Joseph netted a game-best 23 points against 'Nova -- basically single-handily sparking a comeback that made the game close but eventually fell short . Also against the Wildcats, Jackson' tallied 15 points and 16 rebounds to earn his 13th double-double (tied for fourth in the nation); while Triche scored in double digits (14 points) for the fifth straight game. However, the SU bench went 5-for-20 from the floor and starting center Fab Melo played just eight minutes and scored two points.
According to SB Nation's South Orange Juice, here are the SHU story lines to look for:
"- Who will be that last starter? A sequel to the 'Edwin/Lawrence saga' - who will start? Neither played well against Rutgers, so this question remains unanswered. To complicate things, Jamel Jackson is now in the mix for minutes after his whole quitting the team stunt. Sources indicate that Jackson had a phenomenal practice since deciding to stay with the team, lets see if that translates into lighting up Syracuse's zone."
"- Effort. According to Jordan Theodore, this team simply isn't bringing it. If the team doesn't "bring it" tonight, the result might resemble 2005 or 2008".
"- Rebounding. Some how, some way, Seton Hall out rebounded Syracuse 43-30 in the first leg of this match-up. Accompany that with awful free throw shooting by Syracuse, and thats how the game was as close as it was. I don't expect Syracuse to get dominated on the boards again. Prove me wrong, Seton Hall."
A fun match up to watch will be SU's Jackson a