Point guard

Scoop Jardine was instrumental in leading Syracuse to perhaps its two biggest road victories of the 2010-11 season last week against Villanova and Georgetown. Against Villanova, he scored 20. Against Georgetown, he paced the Orange down the stretch when the Hoyas made their run to get back into what was once a lopsided contest. When he’s on, Jardine is a huge key for SU. He showed last week he can take over and win games for this team.

Advantage: Syracuse

Shooting guard

Brandon Triche cooled off shooting-wise against Georgetown, but he’s been impressive as well to complement Jardine in the backcourt in SU’s four-game winning streak. And even when he didn’t contribute last Saturday at Georgetown (1-of-7 shooting), Triche went a cool 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. He has made a notable 27 consecutive free throws, including many in the clutch.

Advantage: Syracuse

Small forward

Kris Joseph was almost nonexistent in the Orange’s two wins last week, which only proves SU has a core group out of which any player can step up and win games. He scored seven points against Villanova and just four against Georgetown. And though Syracuse survived on the road without his contributions, he needs to start playing better heading into postseason play. Against DePaul, he’ll have a favorable matchup against an undersized Blue Demons team.

Advantage: Syracuse

Power forward

Rick Jackson will undoubtedly look to go out of the Carrier Dome with a bang in his senior swan song. And it would be fitting with the year he’s had thus far as undoubtedly the Orange’s MVP. He’ll be matched up against another undersized Blue Demon in the 6-foot-6, 225-pound sophomore Tony Freeland. And he should be able to dominate once again inside, both on offense and defense.

Advantage: Syracuse

Center

Since taking over the starting position in SU’s loss at Louisville from fellow freshman Fab Melo, Baye Moussa Keita has actually played fewer minutes in all five games compared with his season average. Most of the playing time here has gone to C.J. Fair as Jackson shifts to the center spot. When DePaul’s Krys Faber is matched up against Moussa Keita, he’ll have the edge.

Advantage: DePaul

Bench

Fair is the key here as he tries to rebound off his shakiest performance in a while at Georgetown. He played only 11 minutes and was held scoreless by a relentless Hoyas defense. But overall, he’s played well lately, and SU head coach Jim Boeheim can also plug in Dion Waiters and James Southerland, who shot well against Georgetown. DePaul doesn’t have much of a bench and is playing with only nine scholarship players.

Advantage: Syracuse

— Compiled by Brett LoGiurato, sports editor, bplogiur@syr.edu

 

Published on March 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm