USF MBB Takes on Syracuse

The USF Bulls 17-10 (10-4) hit the road once more as they face one of the best teams in the nation, Syracuse. The Orange, ranked 2nd in the nation, is 27-1 (14-1) and 17-0 at home,. They are a tremendous team that has aspirations for the NCAA championship and could be a one seed when the brackets role out.

Syracuse is averaging 76 points per game, allowing just 60.8 points per game against their 2-3 zone defense that often throws off teams and frustrates them into taking bad shots. The Bulls are facing a huge uphill battle in this game (game starts at 7PM).

Senior forward Kris Joseph (6-7 210-pounds) leads the team, averaging 14 points per game (shooting 37% from 3-point range) and 4.8 rebounds per game. Junior guard Brandon Triche (6-4 205-pounds) is averaging 9.4 points per game, 2.4 rebounds per game, and has 33 steals on the season. Sophomore center Fab Melo (7-0 244-pounds) is averaging 7.9 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, and has 74 blocks on the season. Since returning from his suspension, Melo is anchoring the defense and asserting himself more on offense, making him a huge matchup problem for Heath and company.

Senior guard Scoop Jardine (6-2 190-pounds) is averaging 8.7 points per game, 2.3 rebounds per game, and leads the team with 5 assists per game. Freshman forward Rakeem Christmas (6-9 222-pounds) is averaging 2.9 points per game and 2.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Dion Waiters (6-4 215-pounds) is averaging 12 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game, and has 56 steals off the bench this season. Sophomore forward C.J. Fair (6-8 203-pounds) is averaging 9.2 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game off the bench. Freshman forward James Southerland (6-8 215-pounds) is averaging 6.8 points per game and 3.8 rebounds per game as well.

This is an uphill, one legged game for USF. The Orange are a beast in the basketball world and playing at home is just another battle the Bulls face in this game. Syracuse has a huge bench, loaded with talent and length and will make life tough for the Bulls in the game. USF will have to control the clock, attack the zone with their drives and knock down clutch shots if they want to stand any chance in this game.