Pasted (Sorry): Syracuse 92 - Colgate 58

Syracuse completely and utterly dominated Colgate on Monday night, showing off the team's athletic prowess and it's ability to smother it's opponents when the opportunity presents itself. (Boxscore)

Of course, it also was a game that told us absolutely nothing since this 0-6 Colgate team is not very good at all.  And that's a nice way of putting it.

Colgate sucks. They are putrid. They have a team of small, unathletic white guys. That's not a formula for success. They haven't won a game all year. I suspect it will be a while before they do.

The Orange had a very specific goal in mind for this game.  Get out to an early lead, give the starters some rest and let the bench get some much-needed experience.  They succeeded in all of those facets.

"That was our goal to come out early and put this team away early," Syracuse senior Andy Rautins said. "We wanted to get our guys some rest and get the bench guys some time. Ultimately, that’s what we did."

"It keeps our spirit up; sometimes you get lost on the bench," said [Mookie] Jones, who has scored 12 and 10 points in the two games since his well-documented walk-off near the end of last week’s Cornell game. "Down the line, Andy could get in foul trouble or Ricky (Jackson) or whoever and we’d have to count on us. We’ve got to be ready. He’s giving us opportunity to make sure we’re always ready."

Five Orange scored in double-figures, including James Southerland (10), Kris Joseph (10), Mookie Jones (10), Arinze Onuaku (12) and Wes Johnson (19).  Wes also added 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and went 3-4 from three-point range.  Oh and then there was this (H/T: nymetsfan1226) ...

Quite the impressive maneuver.  Unless, say, you're James Arthur Boeheim:

"I don’t know. I’ve seen a lot of those," Boeheim said. "I think when you coach the Olympic team and you see some of the things those guys do, you’re not that impressed anymore. That wouldn’t make the top 10 in one day of practice."

Well sorrrrrrry, Jimmy.

Axe notes that while Andy Rautins didn't blow up the stat sheet, he had a "very Andy Rautins-type night."

Andy Rautins put in what is becoming a very Andy-like stat line: nine points (all three pointers), eight assists, and four steals. Rautins leads the Big East in steals and was right at his average of four per game. Colgate or not, he did all this in just 21 minutes. That is impressive.

While his shot selection leaves something to be desired, Mookie Jones continued to work his way back up the food chain with another decent performance:

Mookie Jones posted ten points and was not the least bit tentative in his shot selection. He had a couple nice assists and a few steals as well, plus four rebounds (one more than AO). He’s starting to position himself for some meaningful playing time in case Andy Rautins ever decides to cool off.

Though the line of the night goes to Mike Waters, who tweeted "What Mookie Jones needs to learn. He hits 3, but gives up 3 at other end. That's not a win."

The good news for Colgate?  They'll learn from the experience.  I hope.  Not much else to do with it.  Same for Syracuse fans...in a game like this its best just to watch the highlights, enjoy the ease of the game and then prepare for the next one.  Next up is Maine (2-3) on Saturday.