What a wonderful change of pace it's been in the last week. This is what I remember back in November and December. I remember seeing a team capable of going up 40-17 at the half and eventually beating a Cincinnati team 87-63 at home. Nice to see them again. But first things first...
Don't we have people in charge of feeding Paul Harris before games? Surely there's a manager who handles this? We can't have him grazing from the crowd...who knows if there's laced nacho out there just waiting for him...
Alas, it seems until we figure out what a Paul Harris eats and how much it needs, it will continue to eat whatever is presented to him. (Via The Axeman):
Paul? Comment?
"A fan actually asked me if I wanted some, and I was in the heat of the moment, so I just had some popcorn."
As for what James Boeheim thought of the incident?
"Nah, I can't say it on camera," Harris said.
I can imagine.
Then again, whatever was in that popcorn might have been exactly what Paul needed. He scored 16 in just 23 minutes of play. Only Jonny Flynn had more (17) while Devo and Rick Jackson added 13 each.
Harris was also on the receiving end of a rather vicious foul in the first half that led to the ejection of Cincy's Alvin Mitchell.
As to whether or not Harris felt the punishment was justified, well...I think so:
"That was intentional," Harris said. "I never foul like that. Ever. I would never do that, to that point. I think it was because the last couple of plays we were getting easy buckets in the paint. Their coach probably didn't tell him to do that on purpose, but he probably did say, 'No more layups.' Or something like that. He just did a real, real, hard, dirty foul."
Overall it was another strong first-half defensive performance for the Orange that rendered the second half a formality. SU clearly beat up the once mighty Bearcats and re-affirmed their place among the upper crust of the Big East. Maybe not with those 3-4 elite teams, but certainly among the discussion of Top 6.