Syracuse 84 - Providence 59: Providaaaaaaaaaaamn

The Syracuse - Providence rivalry may have ended Wednesday night and, in a sense, it ended perfectly.

See, the Syracuse - Providence rivalry isn't really a rivalry. In 57 meetings, the Friars have won only ten times. That's not a rivalry, that's "having some history" with one another. But it's not a rivalry. Schools that have beaten Syracuse more times than Providence include Army, Fordham, Holy Cross, La Salle, NYU & Rochester.

And so, when the Syracuse Orange used a 31-5 run en route to a 42-16 halftime lead that put the kibosh on any Providence plans for an upset, it also confirmed the end to a one-sided rivalry in the most one-sided of ways.

Syracuse won the game 84-59, extended their home-game winning streak to 38 games and moved back into a three-way tie for first place in the Big East.

C.J. Fair made FeloniousPhunk look like a genius with his 20-point, 10-rebound performance while Michael Carter-Williams got his act together with a 15-point, 12-assist game. It's MCW's 9th double-double of the season.

James Southerland had another big game with 20 points off the bench and Brandon Triche added 14.

The big men weren't needed this evening, which is a good thing cause they didn't do much at all. Rakeem Christmas scored six, grabbed a scant two rebounds and garnered four fouls. Baye Moussa Keita went scoreless but picked up three fouls. And Jerami Grant scored three but grabbed five rebounds.

This was not the trap game many feared it would be. And the Orange did not fall flat as many had feared. Now...the countdown to the Georgetown Hoyas begin. Now THAT'S a rivalry.