Teams: Syracuse Orange (0-0, 0-0) vs. Saint Rose Golden Knights (0-0, 0-0)
Day & Time: Thursday, October 25 at 7 p.m. ET
Location: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Line: N/A, but would probably be 25-30 points
TV/Streaming: ACC Network Extra/WatchESPN
Radio: Cuse.com, TK 99/105, WAER 88.3, SiriusXM: N/A
Saint Rose blog: There isn’t one, so we brainstormed a few ideas —
- Roses are Golden
- The Thorn Bush (this is the message board)
- Knights of the Rose Table
Rivalry: Orange lead, 3-0
Current Streak: 3, Syracuse )
First Meeting: Gerry McNamara scored 29 points (14-of-14 from the line) en route to an 86-73 win in 2005. Syracuse got off to a strong start, but things got a little shaky after Jim Boeheim was ejected for arguing a call with an official. Saint Rose cut things to within 10 about halfway through the second half, but the Orange managed to pull away. Demetris Nichols and Mookie Watkins were the only other players in double figures beyond G-Mac.
Last Meeting: Saint Rose had Syracuse all tied at halftime of their 2011 exhibition match, but the Orange outscored them by 18 in the final 20 minutes to grab the 87-69 victory. Kris Joseph led SU with 12 points, and pretty much everyone got in on the action scoring-wise. As a team, Syracuse shot 50 percent from the floor on the night.
Head Coaches: SU: Jim Boeheim (43rd year, 1,027-371); Saint Rose: Mike Perno (interim, 0-0)
Coach Bio: Perno has served as an assistant coach on the Saint Rose staff for over a decade, and after Brian Beaury, he now gets his shot to coach his alma mater. He’s been the interim coach before as Beaury took leave for medical reasons, but any Perno wins still counted for the long-time Golden Knights coach. That’s no longer the case now, though he keeps the interim label since he only took the reins this month.
At Saint Rose, Perno has been on staff for five NCAA Tournament berths, and after transferring into the program from Monmouth as a player, both of those Saint Rose teams also made the NCAA Tournament in DII. In 1998-99, he was a three-point specialist who averaged 12.7 points per game and 3.2 assists. He coached at Kellenberg High School for five years before heading back to his alma mater.
Last Year: The Golden Knights went 21-10 on the year, losing by four to Le Moyne in the East Regional Semifinal — the third loss to the Dolphins on the season. Saint Rose finished second in the Northeast-10’s Southwest Division, carrying a 15-5 record in league play, but lost in the conference tournament quarterfinals to Bentley, 65-58.
Last Game: Division rival Le Moyne took a 10-point lead into halftime, but Saint Rose battled back. Three Golden Knights players scored in double figures, led by Mical-Ryan Boyd’s 15 points. Saint Rose struggled from the field all game, even while coming back, hitting just 21 of 57 shots.
“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: With the team’s two leading scorers gone from last year, the new man to fear is bearded guard Shane Herrity. He averaged 11.3 points per game and was Saint Rose’s best three-point shooter by percentage and total makes. Herrity also gets to the line and is a stronger defender. If you look up late in the first half and Saint Rose is hanging around, he’ll probably be why.
If Syracuse Wins: We get to see how the team plays in a point guard-less offense, and get our first real glimpses at some of the newer additions: Buddy (definitely Jack) Boeheim, Robert Braswell and Elijah Hughes. That’s really it.
If Syracuse Loses: It makes SportsCenter, everyone has a good laugh and someone on TV says something dumb like “serves them right after Boeheim’s comments yesterday.” It won’t dawn on any of them that the game doesn’t count.
Fun Fact No. 1: Saint Rose frosh Sean Dadey is from Syracuse, and was the Central New York Basketball Player of the Year last season.
Fun Fact No. 2: Jimmy Fallon attended the school, but left before graduating to pursue comedy. He came back to complete his degree in 2009, however.