Scoop Jardine has scored in double-digits in five of Syracuse's seven games this season. He's also bookended those performances with two doughnut games in the points column. He has also added four turnovers in each of SU's last three games. Granted, the other players stepped up to cover Scoop's lack of scoring and Jardine's seven assists-per-game average is one of the best in SU history. However, for a team that has struggled all year with consistency and dependability, Scoop just became Jim Boeheim's poster child.
And Jim Boeheim doesn't like poster children...
"He was horrible," Boeheim said. "He couldn't be any worse than he played tonight."
During the four games since his breakout performance against Detroit, Jardine has shot just 9-for-42 (21.4 percent) from the field. And that's why Boeheim doesn't want to hear about his assist total. Standing behind the podium with a taped-up left ring finger, Boeheim said he could have done the same.
"I could get seven assists in a game with a bad finger," he said. "He was nowhere in the game tonight."
To his credit, Scoop handled the call-out with class and as a challenge.
"Coach is going to get the best out of all his players," Jardine said. "He called out my number, and there isn't anything wrong with that. I haven't been playing great. But the one thing I'm never going to stop doing is playing hard."