I can think of no better headline to sum up the situation when it comes to New York City basketball, specifically between Syracuse and St. John's, than this NY Times one...
St. John’s Is Improved; Syracuse Is Syracuse
That about sums it up after No. 4 Syracuse's 76-59 win over St. John's in Madison Square Garden Wednesday night.
Kris Joseph made 8-of-11 shots en route to 18 points, and fourth-ranked Syracuse remained among the ranks of the unbeaten with a 76-59 triumph over St. John's at Madison Square Garden.
Brandon Triche had 15 points and four assists for the Orange (17-0, 4-0 Big East), who notched the 1,800th win in program history.
Rick Jackson posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Syracuse, which converted 9-of-20 shots from three-point range. Jackson surpassed the 1,000 point mark in his career.
Down 17-9 in the early goings, the Orange looked to be feeling the same kind of malaise that plagued them in the Seton Hall game. Then, Syracuse made 11 of its last 16 shots in the first half and rode a 16-1 turnaround to take the lead. A 17-for-27 (63%) performance in the second half sealed the deal.
The Orange also used a shifting line-up in the second half to alter the flow of the game. James Southerland, not Fab Melo started the half and Rick Jackson shifted to center. The move paid dividends thanks Rick's play in the middle.
"It changes a lot," SU guard Scoop Jardine said. "He’s so good with his decision-making. He get it there, he don’t panic. He do a great job of hitting the open guy. We’re a dangerous team when Rick goes there. … It makes the game a lot easier for us."
It makes it particularly easy for SU’s shooters, who can roam to Jackson’s side and experience a vast prairie of shooting space once Jackson catches the ball on the low block. Because when Jackson does corral a pass, the general defensive consensus this season has been to swarm to him.
Scoop finished with 14 points and six assists, but he also committed seven turnovers. Scoop is Scoop.
The good news for St. John's is that they had the biggest crowd of the season in MSG at 14,440. The bad news, a good half of those were Cuse fans.
- Syracuse Defeats St. John's, 76-59, At MSG...SB Nation NY
- Syracuse notches 1,800th win in school history plus other notes from St. John's game...Mike Waters
- SU-St.John's Recap: The Sunny Side...Brent Axe
- SU-St.John's Recap: The Dark Side...Brent Axe
- Syracuse-St.John's Recap: This, That, and the Other Thing...Brent Axe
- Rapid Reaction: Syracuse 76, St. John's 59...ESPN
- And the streak lives on!...Cuse Country
- Defense propels Orange to win over St. John’s...The Juice
- Syracuse - St. John's Postgame Reactions OR NY's Real College Team...Orange44