Scoop Jardine and Dion Waiters are from Philadelphia (BREAKING!) and they did their hometown proud with a 79-66 shellacking by the No. 1 Syracuse Orange over the Villanova Wildcats.
The win moves Syracuse to 18-0, within one win of the all-time best start in school history.
As usual, the game was close until a smothering run by the Orange that broke the game wide open by halftime. The inevitable Villanova second-half run didn't get too out of control and SU more or less phoned it in just enough to win comfortably while also giving Jim Boeheim something to do between now and Saturday.
Dion Waiters led the Orange with 20 points and five rebounds. A scary ankle tweak right before the half sent Cuse Nation into a frenzy but he returned in the second half to deliver multiple dunks and make enough plays to prove it wasn't a big deal.
James Southerland has a nice night with 13 points and four rebounds. Southie was all over the place and provided some decent coverage all over the court all night.
C.J. Fair contributed nine points and six rebounds for the Orange while Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph each added eight points. Scoop also added a fancy halftime buzzer-beater (didn't call bank, though).
Fabricio de Melo loaded up on fouls early again and it affected his play for most of the night. He was attacking at three-qaurters speed and power, trying to get his blocks but also trying to avoid more fouls. He ended up with five points and five boards. Baye Moussa Keita ended up seeing a lot of action because of it en route to two points and six rebounds.
Michael "MC Dubz" Carter-Williams also saw a lot of PT. Even if he didn't fill up the stat sheet (three points, two assists, two fouls), it was valuable time for him.
As for Villanova...yikes. It's gonna be a long season for those guys. Not sure what happened but it's a shame.
Up next, the pesky Providence Friars, who visit the Dome for their rematch on Saturday. The Friars have been busy bunnies since we beat them 87-73. They had a tough loss to Seton Hall and then went to Louisville and put a demolition job on the Cardinals. The worst thing SU can do is get complacent at a time like this.