Now that getting head coach Jim Boeheim his
800th career win is out of the way, the Syracuse Orange can now turn their
attention to Robert Morris in the second round of the 2K Sports Classic
benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at the Carrier Dome.
On Monday night, Syracuse was one of the first schools in the nation to kick
off the regular season and the team did so with a 75-43 drubbing of Albany at
home. The victory made Boeheim the eighth coach in NCAA Division I history to
reach that milestone and now joins fellow Big East Conference coach Jim
Calhoun of UConn in the exclusive club.
As for the Colonials, a team that operates in the Northeast Conference, this
game is their season opener. Last year, the squad finished 24-11 overall and
was an impressive 15-3 in conference. The team won the NEC Tournament with a
narrow 48-46 triumph over Mount St. Mary's, pushing them into the NCAA
Tournament where they bowed to Michigan State in the first round, 77-62.
With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood,
the Orange won the only previous meeting by a score of 103-67 back in 1994.
This Robert Morris squad is almost evenly divided between upper classmen and
freshmen and sophomores but more importantly, this group will have to figure
out a way to grow without Jeremy Chappell who led the team across the board
last season in scoring (16.7 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg), assists (112) and
steals (86). Even though Chappell played for this tiny program in a non-
descript conference, his accomplishments were still quite impressive. Now the
baton has been handed to Rob Robinson who is the top returning scorer for the
Colonials after putting up 11.2 ppg a year ago. Senior guard Jimmy Langhurst
should also be a factor for RMU after shooting an impressive 42.3 percent from
three-point range, but he missed the team's preseason bout against
Shippensburg last week with an injured finger. Velton Jones is someone who can
log minutes at the position if needed, but head coach Mike Rice is well aware
that the team's success in this game and the rest of the season lies in the
hands of four true freshmen who will have to grow up fast.
As has been the case for many a season under coach Boeheim, the Orange again
took the easy way out when opening a new campaign, pushing around tiny Albany
in a 75-43 final at the Carrier Dome two nights ago. Defensively, Syracuse
held the visitors to just 27.3 percent shooting from the field and 17.9
percent behind the three-point line. However, the Orange had their own share
of issues with just 2-of-17 behind the three-point line, 48.4 percent at the
charity stripe and 21 turnovers against a team that the Big East beast should
have crushed all the way around. Arinze Onuaku had a team-high 14 points in
the win, while Wes Johnson, Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine all tallied a dozen
points. One player who had a game he'd much sooner forget was Andy Rautins who
was held scoreless as he missed all six of his field goal attempts. Rautins is
one of the more experienced players on the current roster, last year scoring
10.5 ppg while shooting 102-of-279 behind the three-point line. He, along with
Onuaku (10.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg in 2008-09), will be expected to carry this group
for the duration.
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