MIAMI – Paul Harris and Jonny Flynn dined with Arizona State guard James Harden Friday night in South Beach. But the meal didn’t provide Harden with any insight into Syracuse’s 2-3 zone.

The Sun Devils’ All-American looked frustrated throughout the game, especially in the first half, when he didn’t score a single point.

‘Harden did nothing,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He was really passive. And tonight when he was on the perimeter, we weren’t concerned. If anything, we were going to let him shoot the 3 over the other three guys.’

Harden was ice cold from deep, finishing 0-of-5 from long range. In the first half, Harden was hesitant to drive against the zone and took spot-up jumpers more often. When he drove, he only found bodies ahead of him. He managed to blow past Andy Rautins in the first half but was blocked by Arinze Onuaku as he attempted to get to the rim.

At another point in the first half, Harden received the pass at the high post. When the defense collapsed on him, he threw the ball to no one in particular, and the pass sailed out of bounds on the baseline.

Still, despite the struggles, his teammates encouraged him to be himself.

‘My teammates talked to me in the locker room,’ Harden said. ‘They said they need me. I shouldn’t have waited until the second half. I should have been as aggressive as I was in the first half as I was in the second.’

Even with the added aggressiveness, Harden only showed flashes of his game in the second half by scoring 10 points. Six of those came from the free-throw line. He didn’t make his first field goal until 8:14 into the second half.

For Harden, there may have been nothing he could have done against SU. The main problem might have been that he is an All-American.

‘You see him on TV, you hear about his name, first team All-American, NBA-type talent on the college level. That fires us up,’ Flynn said. ‘Every time you play against a guy with that much potential and that much ability on the basketball court, you’re wired up to stop him.’

On to Memphis

With the win over Arizona State, Syracuse is now one of 16 teams in Division I that are still playing in the NCAA Tournament. It’s the first time the Orange has accomplished that feat since 2004. But for Flynn and his teammates, that’s not good enough.

‘You don’t play to get to the Sweet 16,’ Flynn said. ‘You don’t’ play to get to the Elite Eight. You play to get to the Final Four and win a national championship, and that’s never going to change.’

Syracuse’s next stop en route to a national championship is Memphis and a date with Blake Griffin and Oklahoma. As well as SU’s post players are playing now, they will be challenged by Griffin – the frontrunner for National Player of the Year.

As much as the national championship is the ultimate prize, Syracuse also plans to relish advancing to the round of 16.

‘We’re headed down to Memphis,’ Harris said. ‘We’re definitely going to enjoy this for a couple days.’

This and that

Syracuse reversed one of its troubling trends in Sunday’s game by making free throws. Against ASU, the Orange shot 81 percent from the charity stripe. Even Rick Jackson, who shoots below 50 percent on the year, made two free throws in the closing minutes. … Kristof Ongenaet seems to be relatively healthy again, as he played 10 minutes and grabbed five rebounds. Ongenaet sat out the first-round game with flu-like symptoms. … Syracuse has played Oklahoma three times and has a 2-1 record. The last time they squared off, SU won, 63-47, and advanced to the Final Four in 2003.

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on March 22, 2009 at 12:00 pm