sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Hell is Freezing Over Day!
If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, it's the dead of winter, so it seems more likely that hell would freeze over now than at any other time. This is not necessarily a fun holiday, as on it you are supposed to do all the things you said you wouldn't do until hell freezes over.
"Not until hell freezes over" is an idiom of improbability from the early twentieth century, which stemmed from the belief that hell is a very hot place, and thus will never freeze over. There are many variations on the phrase, such as "It will be a cold day in hell when…" and "There's not a snowball's chance in hell…" Well, the unlikely occurred, hell has frozen over. Get bundled up and ready to celebrate.
SU News
Syracuse, a good 3-point shooting team, was a bad 3-point shooting team against Virginia (PS; $; Ditota)
Syracuse came into Monday night’s game in the JMA Wireless Dome ranked 39th nationally in 3-point shooting.
The Orange men were making 37.1% of their threes. To put that into perspective, last year’s Syracuse team shot 37.7% from the 3-point line, though that Orange team had more volume 3-point shooters.
Justin Taylor (.435), Chris Bell (.388), Joe Girard (.382), Benny Williams (.370) and Symir Torrence (.462) each contributed to Syracuse’s 3-point success this season.
Then came Monday night in the Dome.
Against Virginia, Syracuse took 15 shots from that distance.
But missed 12 of them.
And against Virginia, a team that has not guarded the 3-point line all that well this season, those misses mattered. The Orange lost 67-62.
“We had open shots. A lot of open shots,” SU coach Jim Boeheim said. “You’re not going to beat Virginia if you shoot 3-for-15 from the 3. It’s just not going to happen. Wide open. Just really good shots. The last two were rushed but we had wide open shots.”
The Orange got open shots because for most of the night, Virginia doubled Jesse Edwards when he caught the ball on the baseline or near the lane.
Those double-teams allowed Edwards to locate shooters on the perimeter. Those shooters, generally, were located a skip pass away.
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WATCH: Jim Boeheim has contentious back and forth with reporter over Benny Williams' absence (on3.com; Warren)
Jim Boeheim has had many back-and-forth debates with journalists over the years, and the Syracuse head coach got into another spat with a reporter on Monday.
After Monday’s 67-62 loss to Virginia, a reporter asked Boeheim about Benny Williams, who did not play in the game.
Something about the question ticked off the 78-year-old head coach.
The back and forth between Jim Boeheim and the reporter
“Coach, what’s the status on Benny Williams?” the reporter asked.“Is that your question? That’s the most important question you have?” Boeheim responded.
“He wasn’t on the court today,” the reporter said.
“Is that your most important question here?” Boeheim said.
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Hoos Make Themselves at Home in Dome (virginiasports.com; White)
Two teams playing on short rest Monday night produced an ACC men’s basketball game that was far from an instant classic. That didn’t make its latest victory any less satisfying for sixth-ranked Virginia.
Not every game is going to be a blowout where we’re having 70-point, 80-point nights,” UVA forward Jayden Gardner said. “This one was a grind-it-out game, and it’s good to find different ways to win, so when we have this experience later in March, then we know what to do with it.”
With 85 seconds to play, Gardner missed a baseline jumper that would have pushed the Cavaliers’ lead over Syracuse to four points. From there, however, he contributed one big play after another at the JMA Wireless Dome.
With 60 seconds remaining, the 6-foot-6 Gardner stepped in front of the driving Jesse Edwards and took a charge, sending the Orange’s center, who’d totaled 14 points and seven founds, to the bench with his fifth foul.
With 33 seconds remaining, Gardner hit a midrange jumper that put UVA ahead 66-62.
“You just gotta have a shooter’s mentality, a Kobe Bryant mentality,” Gardner said. “Next shot. I missed a good look on the baseline, so I made it up on defense and finished the game on offense.”
Finally, after Syracuse guard Judah Mintz missed a 3-point attempt, Gardner grabbed his game-high eighth rebound and passed the ball to teammate Armaan Franklin, who was fouled with 13.6 seconds to play.
Franklin went 1 for 2 from the line, and UVA walked off with a 67-62 victory. The win was the seventh straight for the Wahoos (17-3 overall, 9-2 ACC) and gave them a regular-season sweep of the Orange (13-10, 6-6).
“They beat us, just like they beat everyone else,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.
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‘Cuse Can’t Close: Syracuse loses to Virginia (Axe recap) (PS; $; Axe)
There are no cigars or coffee today for the Syracuse University men’s basketball team because the Orange can’t close.
Syracuse snatched defeat from the jaws of victory again on Monday night at the JMA Wireless Dome in a 67-62 loss to No. 6 Virginia.
Just like it did against Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Miami.
The Orange is now 0-5 in Quad 1 games this season.
Syracuse fought the Cavaliers hard for 40 minutes. It used several runs, including a 14-2 stretch, to not only stay in the game, but control most of it.
When it came time to put in the books, the Orange showed up with an unsharpened pencil.
Virginia’s Armaan Franklin made two huge 3-point shots down the stretch, giving the ‘Hoos a 57-54 lead.
Syracuse missed too many free throws, saw Jesse Edwards foul out and gave up an offensive board to Virginia that earned the Cavaliers a wide open 3-pointer by Kihei Clark that put a dagger in SU’s hopes at 62-58.
Charlie Brown thought he would make contact with the football this time, but Lucy pulled it away again.
“We played easily the best game we played all year,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “They’re a really good team. They really played well. If we make our free throws we win the game. But we didn’t.”
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N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syracuse.com
Bell endured a quick hook and a long benching: ‘It’s hard, but it’s basketball’ (PS; $; Waters)
Chris Bell was taking a seat on the Syracuse bench, while the Dome faithful were still standing and clapping.
Syracuse’s game against Virginia was just 14 seconds old when Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, upset over a turnover by Bell, summoned the freshman to the bench.
“He gave them the ball off catching the ball,’’ Boeheim said. “He gave them the ball. You can’t play and do that. There’s some things you can’t do. If you catch the ball and you hold it and the guy comes up and takes it out of your hands, you can’t play.’’
Bell would remain out of the game the rest of the first half. The second half would start and Bell was still on the bench.
The freshman forward would not return to the court until the 16:01 mark of the second half. He had sat for over 23 minutes of game time.
“It’s hard, but it’s basketball,’’ Bell said. “You get your next opportunity and you make the most of it. That’s just what it is.’’
Bell’s benching was a relatively minor aspect of Syracuse’s 67-62 loss to the sixth-ranked Cavaliers on Monday at the JMA Wireless Dome.
There was the Orange hanging with another tough opponent, but faltering late just as it had against Miami, North Carolina and Pittsburgh.
There was the absence of sophomore Benny Williams, who had started 19 of SU’s first 20 games prior to losing his starting gig on Saturday at Virginia Tech.
There was Joe Girard’s second sub-par outing in a row as the senior guard managed just seven points. And there was another disputable foul call in the game’s final minute, a charge that went against Jesse Edwards for his fifth of the game, putting the SU center out of the game.
But Bell’s night had an almost dramatic feel to it.
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Gardner leads No. 6 Virginia to 67-62 win over Syracuse (wgnradio.com; AP)
Jayden Gardner scored 17 points and made a jumper near the foul line in the final minute as No. 6 Virginia withstood a second-half surge by Syracuse to win its seventh straight game, 67-62 on Monday night.
Gardner, a fifth-year senior, drew a charge for the fifth foul on Syracuse big man Jesse Edwards with 1 minute left, then converted the shot with 37 seconds remaining to put the Cavaliers (17-3, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) up by four.
Kihei Clark and Armaan Franklin each scored 12 points for Virginia, which completed a sweep of Syracuse and moved within one game of ACC-leading Clemson.
Judah Mintz scored 20 points and Edwards had 14 for Syracuse (13-10, 6-6), which has lost four of five.
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Syracuse Orange news: 4-star Elijah Moore on fire, QB priority target, more (itlh; Adler)
New Syracuse Orange basketball pledge Elijah Moore has been lighting up the scoreboard lately.
The 6-foot-4 Moore, a four-star shooting guard from New York City, gave a verbal commitment to the ‘Cuse on Saturday afternoon. In picking Syracuse Orange basketball over other finalists Alabama, Arkansas, Miami and Oklahoma State, the top-80 Moore became the first commitment for the ‘Cuse in the 2024 recruiting cycle.
In recent contests for Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y., where he is a standout junior, Moore has put up some big-time performances. This past Sunday, the day after he verbally committed to Syracuse Orange basketball, Moore tallied 22 points, four rebounds and six assists as Cardinal Hayes notched a victory, according to high-school hoops analyst Alex Karamanos.
Karamanos said in his tweet that Moore is averaging more than 20 points per game during the 2022-23 season to date for Cardinal Hayes.
Moore, who runs on the AAU circuit with the Bronx, N.Y.-based Wiz Kids in the Adidas league, was offered a scholarship by the ‘Cuse in April of last year. He has taken multiple visits to the Hill and was a courtside guest of businessman and top SU booster Adam Weitsman when Syracuse Orange basketball recently fell by four points to North Carolina at the JMA Wireless Dome.
As I first reported over the weekend, Weitsman has verbally agreed to a major name, image and likeness deal with Moore, who is rated a top-20 shooting guard in the 2024 cycle by several recruiting services.
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Fizz Report Card: Syracuse Can't Steal One Against No. 6 Virginia, Falls 67-62 (orangefizz.net; Simone)
It happened again. For the second time in a week, Syracuse had one of the premiere programs in the ACC in its own building with a chance to win and could not close it out. This time, it was against Virginia, the No. 6 team in the country. What would have been a statement win slipped through SU’s fingers, much like it did against North Carolina last Tuesday. Let’s hand out some grades:
Maliq Brown A-
In his second game as a starter, Maliq Brown was his usual reliable self. The freshman scored 8 points and grabbed 7 rebounds while hanging around the basket all game. Literally, all game. Benny Williams was not in the building, which meant it was either Brown or John Bol Ajak at the four. Boeheim clearly wanted to ride his freshman as far as he could, and Brown delivered, as he usually does.
Jesse Edwards B-
Edwards began the game timidly. Despite being matched up against Ben Vander Plas, who weighs about the same as the SU center (listed at 236 pounds), but is only 6’8 compared to Edwards’ 6’11. Edwards struggles against stronger defenders, but, even so, he was not aggressive enough early. That got better as the game went on and the Dutchman finished with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Still, though, the pick-and-roll game is nowhere to be found. And, of course, the old fouling out issue resurfaced. It came on a costly charge with a minute to go down by two.
Judah Mintz B
The missed free throws hurt. Mintz was outstanding as a scorer, with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting. The jumper was falling and he was getting to the rim effectively. However, three missed foul shots including two on one trip killed a potential momentum swing for Syracuse late. Also, Mintz didn’t have his usual passing prowess, with only one assist in 35 minutes. You have to give him credit for the scoring element, but it was far from a complete game.
Joe Girard D
Seven points on 3/12 from the field, including one of four tries from three. Just not good enough from Girard, who now has back-to-back games in single figures, including Saturday against Virginia Tech. The fact that Syracuse could have won this game without a good performance from Girard is impressive, considering how many games the senior has essentially carried SU to a win this year. But, tonight, when him stepping up would have made the ultimate difference, he did not.
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ACC Teams That Make The Most Of Trips To The Foul Line (DBR; Jacobs)
So far, only two ACC teams have attempted at least 10 free throws in a game this season and made all of them.
First was Virginia Tech in a mid-November win at home against William and Mary, when the Hokies were 12-12 at the line and won, 94-77. Impeccable as it was, that level of perfection only vaguely resembled the performance achieved two months later by the Miami Heat, who set an NBA record by making all 40 foul shots they tried against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The previous NBA record was 39-39 by the Utah Jazz in 1982.
The comparably excellent ACC mark for free throw perfection was set in mid-January 2005 by Wake Forest against North Carolina, as the homestanding Demon Deacons converted all 32 shots they launched from the line. Skip Prosser’s Deacs narrowly missed the NCAA single-game men’s record of 34 straight, set by UC Irvine against Pacific in 1981 and matched by Samford against the University of Central Florida in December 1990.
Both Prosser’s Deacs and newly minted UNC coach Roy Williams’ squad boasted 14-1 records for their ’05 meeting at Joel Coliseum. The Heels were ranked third nationally, Wake fourth. Hundreds of fans camped out awaiting the game. Each team had three ACC wins without a loss, and there was talk the Carolina unit led by Sean May, Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants was so good it might march through the league with an unblemished record.
As it was UNC wound up with four losses overall against 33 wins. The Tar Heels finished atop the ACC standings at 14-2, lost to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament semis in Washington, D.C., and rallied to win the 2005 NCAA championship. Duke topped the Yellow Jackets to win the ACC Tournament title.
But at the Joel the Heels lost 95-82 to a Wake squad spearheaded at the line by Chris Paul (9 for 9), Vytas Danilius (6-6) and Taron Downey (5-5), supported by Eric Williams and Justin Gray. Prosser reported his group put in extra work on foul shots in the days prior to the big game because they were “wallowing within the dregs of free throw shooting in our conference.”
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Why was Jalen Hurts at Syracuse vs. UVA basketball game? Eagles QB confuses many after showing up courtside | Sporting News (TSN; Suggs)
Back to school?
Jalen Hurts is among the most popular figures in American sports and for good reason. The MVP finalist finds himself just one win away from football immortality after leading the Eagles to a 31-7 beatdown over the 49ers in the NFC Championship game on Sunday.
Just 24 years old, Hurts is younger than Georgia signal-caller Stetson Bennett, who just led the Bulldogs to another College Football Playoff championship. In fact, Hurts is younger than a great number of college students, so much so that if he were to sneak into a college sporting event, he wouldn't look all that out of place.
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Locked On Syracuse - Daily Podcast On Syracuse Orange Football & Basketball: Is This Deja Vu? Syracuse Loses Another Heart Breaker Against Virginia on Apple Podcasts (apple.com; podcast; Locked on Syracuse)
Matt Bonaparte and Owen Valentine break down a brutal Syracuse loss to Virginia. What went wrong down the stretch? Where do things go from here? What was up with Benny? It's your Locked On Syracuse Tuesday.
Other
Upstate New York could see its coldest temperatures in years on Saturday morning.
A brief but bitter blast of Arctic air could bring record cold to Central NY (PS; Coin)
We’re about to get a rude awakening from this mild, relatively warm winter in Central New York.
The coldest blast of the season yet arrives this weekend, with temperatures dropping well below zero and approaching record-cold levels. Saturday is likely to be the coldest day in Syracuse in at least five years, and the coldest Feb. 4 in over a century.
The temperature in Central New York will plunge to 14 below zero Saturday morning, the National Weather Service predicts. It hasn’t been that cold in Syracuse since New Year’s Day 2018, when it was 15 below.
The last time it was this cold on Feb. 4 was 1918, when the low hit minus 14. The record for the date is minus 15, set in 1908.
“An Arctic cold front will rush through the area Thursday night, bringing falling temperatures along with scattered to numerous snow showers, flurries and perhaps some blowing snow,” the weather service said.
Temperatures are expected to fall from around 32 degrees at dinner time Thursday to 5 degrees by sunrise Friday. Winds pick up, too, with gusts hitting 30 to 35 mph throughout the day Friday and into Saturday.
Wind chills Saturday could drop as low as 25 degrees below zero, cold enough to cause frostbite on exposed skin within a half-hour.
“This would be a shock to the body even during the coldest winters,” the weather service said, “but considering how relatively mild January has been, this will be even more so.”
The average temperature for January in Syracuse has been about 8 degrees above normal, making this month the ninth-warmest January in Syracuse since records began in 1902.
This week’s Arctic blast will be as brief as it is brutal: By Sunday afternoon, we should see temperatures in the mid 30s. The odds tilt slightly toward the rest of February being warmer than normal, according to the Climate Prediction Center, a branch of the weather service.
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