Skyfall: Temple 83 - Syracuse 79

Full disclosure: I woke up around 8:30 a.m. PST, took my dog out for a walk, came back, went for a run, took a shower, made some toast and then sat down to start my Saturday morning. It was roughly 10:30 a.m. PST when I logged on to the Internet and realized HOLY S**T THERE'S A SYRACUSE GAME ON. Not helping matters, I was on my way out the door for plans I had made without remembering HOLY S**T THERE'S A SYRACUSE GAME ON. So, sufficed to say, I did not watch the game. Thank God I don't run a blog dedicated to Syracuse sports.

The Temple Owls pulled one hell of a long con this week when they lost to the Canisius Golden Griffins, lulling the Syracuse Orange and their fans into a false sense of security before upsetting the No. 3 Orange 83-79 in front of the "home" crowd at Madison Square Garden.

The shocking stats of the day...the way Temple dominated in the paint and at the free throw line.

Temple guard Khalif Wyatt led the Owls with a career-high 33 points. Temple center Anthony Lee contributed a career-best 21 points.

Temple went 29-for-35 at the free-throw line, while Syracuse missed 15 of its 34 opportunities.

It's funny how a game like this can make me rethink everything you've seen before now. All of a sudden, the red flags we were willing to overlook are a whole lot more glaring. The reliance of James Southerland. The turnovers. The way we almost handed the last game to Detroit.

It felt really weird to lose this game, which is a silly thing to say. But when you realize it's Syracuse's first non-conference loss in the regular season since 2008, then it makes sense. And then remember it's only their fifth loss since the beginning of last season and it keeps making sense. We're just not used to seeing Syracuse lose. It's a feeling I'm fine with.

Here's some links about the game itself since I have no idea what happened, which is probably for the best.

Syracuse must learn from Temple's approach to Michael Carter-Williams...Syracuse.com

Temple's Anthony Lee exploits Syracuse inside in the Owls' 83-79 upset...Syracuse.com

C.J. Fair achieves a career-high with 25 points in Syracuse's loss to Temple...Syracuse.com

Syracuse Basketball vs Temple Recap: The Sunny Side...Brent Axe

Syracuse Basketball vs Temple Recap: The Dark Side...Brent Axe

Syracuse Basketball vs Temple Recap: This, That, and the Other Thing...Brent Axe

TEMPLE OF DOOM: Free throws cost Syracuse as Orange suffers 1st loss of the season to Temple...Daily Orange

Chastened Temple Stops Syracuse and Boeheim...New York Times

Temple's Anthony Lee Did Not Know Syracuse Was the No. 3 Team in the Country...700 Level

Should No. 3 Syracuse still be considered an elite team after loss to Temple?...CBT

Syracuse v. Temple — What we learned...The Juice Online

Syracuse Can’t Hit Free Throws, Loses To Temple...CollegeSpun

Syracuse needs leadership and inside toughness going forward...CBS Sports