sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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The history of croissants is steeped in legend. One legend says that croissants were first made in Buda, the ancient capital of Hungary that is now the western part of Budapest, to celebrate the victory of the Franks over the Umayyads at the Battle of Tours—which happened back in the eighth century. The shape was said to represent the crescent moon of Islam.
A second legend says that croissants were made to celebrate the victory of Christian forces over the Ottoman Empire in 1683. The Ottomans had laid siege to Vienna, Austria, and the legend says that when the Ottomans were unsuccessful in entering the city, they attempted to dig tunnels underneath it. Apparently, a baker or bakers, who worked in underground storerooms, heard sounds of digging and alerted the army. After the battle, they were given thanks, and they baked bread in the shape of a crescent moon, the Ottoman Empire's symbol. The story says that croissants then went on to become a popular breakfast food in Vienna. Some believe this moment marked the start of the kipferl, not the croissant, but the kipferl had long been in existence at this point. It is mentioned in a poem from 1227, as a treat that Viennese bakers brought to Duke Leopold.
SU News
Syracuse basketball at Boston College: 10 things to watch for (PS; Waters)
For three games, all was well with the Syracuse Orange.
In wins over No. 1 Duke, Pittsburgh and Miami, Syracuse had pieced together three very good performances. The Orange players were moving the ball on offense, resulting in a high number of assisted baskets. Syracuse had scored at least 73 points in each of the three wins.
Syracuse center Paschal Chukwu had come to life, rebounding the ball and defending aggressively. Senior point guard Frank Howard had continued to improve and appeared fully recovered from his off-season ankle injury.
Then the Orange suffered a 78-56 loss to No. 10 Virginia Tech on Saturday and everything seemed to revert back to December when back-to-back losses to Old Dominion and Buffalo dropped SU's record to 8-4.
Syracuse (14-6 overall, 5-2 in the ACC) will look to return to the win column with the second of three straight road games as it visits Boston College on Wednesday night.
>> Time, TV info
Boston College (11-7, 2-4) has won two straight games in the conference, beating Florida State and Wake Forest.
Can the Orange shake off Saturday's loss and get back to its winning ways?
Here are 10 things to watch for:
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Syracuse Basketball Continues Road Trip at Boston College (waer.org; Sacchi)
As January comes to a close, it is safe to say this season has been one of peaks and valleys for Syracuse Basketball so far.
The peaks have certainly been high, with victories over Ohio State, Clemson and most notably Duke, all coming on the road. Take a look at the schedule, though, and the valleys are undeniable. Losses against Old Dominion and Georgia Tech at the Carrier Dome punctuate the inconsistency of the 2018-19 Orange.
Syracuse (14-6) comes into a Wednesday night matchup at Boston College (11-7) looking to lift itself out of its latest low point. Last Saturday, Virginia Tech held Jim Boeheim's squad to its lowest point total of the season in a 78-56 home win for the Hokies.
The SU offense looks to bounce back against a Boston College defensive unit that allows an average of 72.3 points per game, which is the worst mark among ACC teams. Increased ball movement was key during a three-game win streak prior to the loss at Virginia Tech. Syracuse racked up 17.3 assists per game in those three wins, but could only manage seven assists against Tech.
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Syracuse Basketball: Keys to victory for Boston College showdown (itlh.com; Adler)
The Syracuse basketball squad continues its brutal three-game road trip with a vital tilt on Wednesday at Boston College.
The SU hoops outfit got out-rebounded last Saturday against then-No. 10 Virginia Tech, one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s shortest teams, in a 22-point, deflating loss that halted its winning streak at three. If the ‘Cuse (14-6, 5-2) wants to conquer Boston College (11-7, 2-4) on Wednesday evening at the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass., the Orange absolutely has to dominate the glass.
Don’t let the Eagles’ record to date in the 2018-19 campaign fool you. This is a solid crew with an elite guard in junior Ky Bowman, who is third in the ACC in scoring, at 20.5 points per contest, to go along with 8.1 boards and 3.6 assists.
So far in the present term, BC is averaging slightly more total rebounds than Syracuse every 40 minutes. Interestingly enough, the Eagles grab more defensive boards, while SU is a tad better in securing offensive rebounds. Something, it seems, will have to give.
Overall, the ‘Cuse has a decisive edge in its long-time series with Boston College, however, the programs have split the past four encounters, with each group succeeding on its own turf. In their most-recent duel, the Eagles blasted the Orange, 85-70, at home on Feb. 28, 2018.
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Pitt basketball: Capel 'hopes' Toney can play vs. Syracuse (pittsburghsportsnow.com; Northam)
The Pittsburgh Panthers could have used Au’Diese Toney’s defensive expertise on Tuesday in Littlejohn Coliseum.
Without the freshman wing from Huntsville, Alabama, Pitt allowed Clemson to shoot 55.3 percent from the floor, the highest percentage it has allowed an opponent all season, and the Tigers rolled to a 82-69 victory.
Toney injured his right hand in practice on Sunday, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said after the team’s loss. Capel said that there isn’t anything broken in Toney’s hand, and he participated in shootaround Tuesday morning. But that was when Capel noticed that Toney couldn’t catch the ball.
“It swelled up. We got X-rays,” Capel said. “We made the determination (at shootaround) that he wouldn’t be able to play (against Clemson).”
Capel added that he “hopes” Toney will be ready by Saturday for Pitt’s home contest vs. Syracuse.
“We’ll evaluate him when we practice again,” Capel said.
Toney leads Pitt in rebounding this season, averaging six boards per-game. He started every Pitt game before missing Tuesday’s contest and also averaged 9.4 points and a steal per-game. With quick feet, toughness, a 6-foot-6 and 210-pound frame, and a lengthy reach, he’s become a versatile defender for a Pitt defense that ranks 18th in efficiency, according to KenPom.
On Tuesday, Capel turned to Malik Ellison to start in place of Toney. A junior wing from Voorhees, New Jersey, Ellison finished with four points, four rebounds and a steal in 30 minutes.
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Tigers rout Pitt for second ACC win (theclemsoninsoder.com; Vandervort)
Some wondered if Clemson would have much energy for its late game with Pitt on Tuesday after losing a heartbreaker on the road to NC State last Saturday.
With less than a capacity crowd at Littlejohn Coliseum and a 9 p.m. start it would have seemed logical for the Tigers to be a little lethargic and hungover from the loss. However, they came out with their own energy and used runs of 8-0 and 14-0 early in the game to blowout the Panthers, 82-69.
“We played like a team that really wanted to play well, and was focused,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “We did a lot of really good things in the first half. I thought our defense was good. We got our hands on balls. Obviously, we shared the ball and we made threes.
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Other
SU’s research ambitions marked by top-tier designation, millions of dollars in spending (DO; Rose)
When speaking in public, it’s not unusual for Chancellor Kent Syverud to reference Syracuse University’s “R1” designation. In his 2019 “Winter Message,” he spent six and a half minutes of a roughly 25-minute speech discussing the classification and major research programs at SU.
The term R1, or “Research 1,” may seem like a mundane, scientific term. But it’s been a driving force behind many of SU’s major strategic decisions, related to academic research, over the course of the last three years.
SU recently retained its R1 ranking, a top-level research designation, in part by investing millions of dollars in various initiatives since 2015.
SU upped its spending on science and engineering research and development by more than $30 million in just three years, according to Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education data. That was between 2015 and 2018. SU also tripled its spending on non-science and engineering research and development in that same time period.
The Carnegie classification designated SU as an R1 level research university first in 2015. It retained the designation in 2018. SU’s R1 classification shows it has high research expenditures, doctoral degree conferrals and postdoctoral researchers, said Vice President for Research John Liu.
The doctoral degree-conferring universities with the highest research activity are classified by the Carnegie Classification system as R1, and schools with high and moderate research activity are classified as R2 and R3, respectively.
Of the United States’ 4,338 colleges and universities, only about 1,100 provide graduate education, and 423 of those are doctoral degree-conferring universities, Liu said.
SU recently pledged an additional $1 million in annual funding toward a new Center for Undergraduate Research and $750,000 to a graduate research program, Chancellor Kent Syverud said in his “Winter Message” earlier this month.
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