Three...and the Foul (Syracuse-Notre Dame) Wrap Up

Syracuse and Notre Dame turned out to be a pretty even match-up, with Notre Dame's firepower both down low and on the perimeter eventaully wearing out the Orange. Let's take a look at how my three facets of the game came into play today:

1. Notre Dame shooting over the zone.

Doing their best imitation of last year's West Virgina squad, the Irish chucked up 34 three-pointers and made thirteen for an average of 38 percent. In other words, they shot about the exact percentage that they have all year from behind the arc. And, as I said, if they shot their percentage, they'd be fine. That's why we should all pay attention to my pregame knowledge bombs. Russell's 4-10 shotting treys as well as Colin Falls' 7-17 helped Notre Dame pull away in the second half. More important than the Irish shooting, though, was the Orange's Josh Boone-like free-throw shooting (16-28 as a team). ND, on the other hand, drained 22 of 26 from the stripe. In a six-point decision, you have to point to free throws as the major decider of this game.

2. Demetrius Nichols

Defying all logic, Syracuse led by three at the half with Nichols scoring only one point in the first twenty minutes. This is a guy that can get hot at any time - as shown by his big second half yesterday en route to 28 points - so he ended up with 17 points on 5 of 14 shooting. Yet he never got it going from downtown, hitting just three of 10 attempts. In the end, he was probably the third-most impressive guy on his team today, with Paul Harris (24 points) and Terrence Roberts (20 boards) doing the most to keep Boeheim's boys within striking distance.

3. Can Devendorf hold onto the ball?

Short answer: I don't know but I'll get back to you. It's too soon after the game for those stats to be up - I've checked around the internet but if you know where they are, let me know. Oh, and I'll ask Al Gore to invent a faster internet, too. No matter the actual stats, Devendorf wasn't the reason Syracuse lost. The turnover battle was pretty much dead even at halftime, with each team at about 10. Both schools finished with 14 so there was no major edge for Notre Dame as a result of Devendorf. He played well - even scored 19 and got to the rack with regularity.

And the foul: Boeheim got mad a bunch of times, but I wouldn't say he turned orange. He's probably saving his best for the NCAAs. I say that with some confidence because I believe the Orange will be in the field of 65. They've played well of late, dominated UConn yesterday and showed they could hang with Notre Dame. With the scoring potential of Devendorf, Nichols, Roberts and even Watkins to go along with a defense that's third in the country in field-goal percentage against, this team could cause problems for a high seed - as they did with Notre Dame. They boast good wins against Marquette and Georgetown and forgivable losses on the road to the top teams in the Big East. Realistically, I don't see them being any higher than an eight, and that's probably high. That said, they're a true wildcard. I could see them losing in the first round as easily as I could see them reaching the sweet sixteen. With that zone playing steadily, it's basically a matter of whether their shooters can heat up at the right time.

Three...and the Foul (Syracuse-Notre Dame)

Three things I'll be watching for in the Orange-Irish marchup in the second round of the Big East tourney:

1. Notre Dame's shooting over the zone.

The Irish shoot 39 percent from three on the year, with three guys (Carter, Falls, Kurz) shooting above 40 percent. Eric Devendorf will need to guard well on the perimeter and Boeheim will use Demetrius Nichols' size to cut off three-point attmpts from around the baseline. If the Irish shoot around their average percentage, though, they will be tough to beat.

2. Demetrius Nichols

UConn left Nichols alone far too often yesterday, and the senior torched them for 28 points on 7 of 11 shooting beyond the arc. The Orange like to screen for him and run him off curls to get Nichols open looks, making the Irish's help defense highly important.

3. Can Devendorf hold on to the ball?

The Orange can't afford to make too many mistakes today but Devendorf, their primary ball handler, enters the game with 100 turnovers in 31 games.

And the foul: At one point, will Boeheim turn the color of his team's jersey's? I say yes.