Scouting Syracuse

The Bulls will have to slow down Scoop Jardine and company if they want the upset win.

Here we go again. The Bulls are close to home as they take on the #17 Syracuse Orange in the St. Pete Times Forum in downtown Tampa. This is a great venue and should create an exciting atmosphere for the game. The Bulls enter the matchup at 8-15 (2-8) and are looking for a major upset in this one. The Orange are coming off of a dominate win over #7 UCONN. Here are the players to watch during the game and how the Bulls will try to stop the Orange attack.

The Orange are led by forward Kris Joseph (6'7" 207-pounds). Joseph averages 15 points per game and 5 rebounds per game, posing a matchup problem for the Bulls inside. Forward Rick Jackson (6'9" 240-pounds) averages 13.2 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game. With Famous injured, the USF big men, Anderson Jr. and Gilchrist, will have to work hard inside to try to keep Syracuse off the boards. At guard, the Orange have Scoop Jardine (6'2" 190-pounds) (I love the name by the way). Jardine averages 12.7 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game and 6 assists per game. He is a very fast guard with great ball skills. He will be a tough matchup for Crater and Poland. Guard Brandon Triche (6'4" 198-pounds) averages 10.5 points per game and 3.1 assists per game. Guard Dion Waiters (6'3' 214-pounds) off of the bench averages 6.6 points per game.

Here are some other Orange players to watch out for:

James Southerland - Forward - 6'8" 205-pounds - 5.6 points per game

Fab Melo - Center - 7' 265-pounds - 2 points per game (starter, plus his name is Fab, so added here)

Mookie Jones - Forward - 6'6" 220-pounds - 3.7 points per game (His name is Mookie, come on)

Outcome of the game: (Kind of a new way to project what the end of the game will be) The game will probably be close in the first half due to the energy the Bulls tend to play with in the first half, especially being on a big stage in their hometown. But in the second half, the zone pressure, size, and simply athletic ability of Syracuse will be too much for the Bulls to overcome.

Final Score: USF 65 Syracuse 78