BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: Syracuse @ Connecticut
February 5, 2007
ESPN's College basketball version of Rivalry Week tips off tonight with Syracuse and Connecticut hooking up in Connecticut. The Orange snapped their three-game losing streak on Saturday by outlasting DePaul 75-69. Syracuse saw their 20-point 2nd half lead shrink to three late, but they held on and moved to 5-4 in the Big East.
Connecticut finally halted their five-game losing streak, but it was a struggle as the Huskies needed to work overtime to beat a short-handed Rutgers, 61-50. All 14 of UConn's points in overtime came from the foul line as they closed out the contest on a 12-0 run.
Here are the links to the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:
UConn Basketball Preview (Danbury News Times)
UConn Men's Scouting Report (Norwich Bulletin)
Syracuse, Like UConn, Trying to Dig Out of Holes it has Dug (Connecticut Post)
Huskies in Must-Win vs Orange (Danbury News Times)
Huskies Take Win...Little Else from Rutgers (Hartford Courant)
With Syracuse in Town, Huskies Hoping to Return Honor to Season (Waterbury Rep-Am)
After Quick Break, UConn Takes out Syracuse (Stamford Advocate)
Huskies State of Mind Better (Register Citizen)
UConn Men's Notebook (Connecticut Post)
Records Aside, Rivalry is Hot (syracuse Post-Standard)
Syracuse Hits the Road to face Desperate UConn (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)
Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.
READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
With their overtime win over Rutgers on Saturday, Connecticut finds themselves in a three-way tie for the last Big East Tournament spot with South Florida and Seton Hall. With a much tougher schedule ahead than the other two, winning at home is imperative and when rival Syracuse comes to townm tonight, the Huskies will be desperate for a win. Offensively, UConn continues to struggle as they managed just 47 points in regulation against Rutgers on Saturday, shooting just 34% from the floor. They outscored Rutgers 24-8 from the foul line and scored all 14 of their overtime points from the line to secure a win on Saturday.
Syracuse got a career-high 27 pts from Eric Devendorf and 18 from Andy Rautins to hold off DePaul, 75-69. The Orange led 52-32 in the second half and saw that lead get cut to 68-65 with 1:47 left before Devendorf hit a driving lay-up and the important free throws to secure the win.
Connecticut is a 3.5-pt favorite in tonight's contest. Syracuse has the definite edge in experience with a starting frontcourt of three seniors: Darryl Watkins, Terrence Roberts and Demetris Nichols. They will be matched-up against freshmen Stanley Roberts and Hasheem Thabeet and sophomore Jeff Adrien. The Orange MUST win this match-up and use their experience and strength to their advantage. In the backcourt, UConn will try to use their quickness in Jerome Dyson, Doug Wiggins and AJ Price to disrupt Josh Wright and Eric Devendorf and force the Orange ballhandlers into bad decisions and poor passes to the post. They will need to force the Orange to turn it over and have Wright and Devendorf settle for perimeter jumpers as their offense.
Connecticut has the endge in depth, mostly in sheer numbers, but Paul Harris, Andy Rautins and Matt Gorman can provide a little bit of everything off the bench for the Orange. Marcus Johnson and Craig Austrie bring some experience for UConn off the bench, but the rest of the cast seems to change daily.
I still think this is Syracuse's game to lose. The Orange have the experience and I am still waiting for them to put it together for more than a flash here or there. This game is unlikely to be pretty, but the Orange have more offense and their zone is the best defense to stifle UConn's poor shooting line-up.
NBE Blogger Prediction: Syracuse 67 Connecticut 61
ESPN's College basketball version of Rivalry Week tips off tonight with Syracuse and Connecticut hooking up in Connecticut. The Orange snapped their three-game losing streak on Saturday by outlasting DePaul 75-69. Syracuse saw their 20-point 2nd half lead shrink to three late, but they held on and moved to 5-4 in the Big East.
Connecticut finally halted their five-game losing streak, but it was a struggle as the Huskies needed to work overtime to beat a short-handed Rutgers, 61-50. All 14 of UConn's points in overtime came from the foul line as they closed out the contest on a 12-0 run.
Here are the links to the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:
UConn Basketball Preview (Danbury News Times)
UConn Men's Scouting Report (Norwich Bulletin)
Syracuse, Like UConn, Trying to Dig Out of Holes it has Dug (Connecticut Post)
Huskies in Must-Win vs Orange (Danbury News Times)
Huskies Take Win...Little Else from Rutgers (Hartford Courant)
With Syracuse in Town, Huskies Hoping to Return Honor to Season (Waterbury Rep-Am)
After Quick Break, UConn Takes out Syracuse (Stamford Advocate)
Huskies State of Mind Better (Register Citizen)
UConn Men's Notebook (Connecticut Post)
Records Aside, Rivalry is Hot (syracuse Post-Standard)
Syracuse Hits the Road to face Desperate UConn (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)
Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.
READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
With their overtime win over Rutgers on Saturday, Connecticut finds themselves in a three-way tie for the last Big East Tournament spot with South Florida and Seton Hall. With a much tougher schedule ahead than the other two, winning at home is imperative and when rival Syracuse comes to townm tonight, the Huskies will be desperate for a win. Offensively, UConn continues to struggle as they managed just 47 points in regulation against Rutgers on Saturday, shooting just 34% from the floor. They outscored Rutgers 24-8 from the foul line and scored all 14 of their overtime points from the line to secure a win on Saturday.
Syracuse got a career-high 27 pts from Eric Devendorf and 18 from Andy Rautins to hold off DePaul, 75-69. The Orange led 52-32 in the second half and saw that lead get cut to 68-65 with 1:47 left before Devendorf hit a driving lay-up and the important free throws to secure the win.
Connecticut is a 3.5-pt favorite in tonight's contest. Syracuse has the definite edge in experience with a starting frontcourt of three seniors: Darryl Watkins, Terrence Roberts and Demetris Nichols. They will be matched-up against freshmen Stanley Roberts and Hasheem Thabeet and sophomore Jeff Adrien. The Orange MUST win this match-up and use their experience and strength to their advantage. In the backcourt, UConn will try to use their quickness in Jerome Dyson, Doug Wiggins and AJ Price to disrupt Josh Wright and Eric Devendorf and force the Orange ballhandlers into bad decisions and poor passes to the post. They will need to force the Orange to turn it over and have Wright and Devendorf settle for perimeter jumpers as their offense.
Connecticut has the endge in depth, mostly in sheer numbers, but Paul Harris, Andy Rautins and Matt Gorman can provide a little bit of everything off the bench for the Orange. Marcus Johnson and Craig Austrie bring some experience for UConn off the bench, but the rest of the cast seems to change daily.
I still think this is Syracuse's game to lose. The Orange have the experience and I am still waiting for them to put it together for more than a flash here or there. This game is unlikely to be pretty, but the Orange have more offense and their zone is the best defense to stifle UConn's poor shooting line-up.
NBE Blogger Prediction: Syracuse 67 Connecticut 61
posted by NBE Blogger @ 8:39 AM
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