Orange and Panthers Clash Saturday at the Dome

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange men’s basketball team (17-11, 7-8) is in the home stretch of the 2007-08 regular season and will play two of its last three games at the Carrier Dome, starting with Saturday’s match with Pittsburgh (20-8, 8-7). Tip-off is slated for 12 p.m.

Tickets for Saturday’s game can be purchased on-line (click here), over the phone (1-888-DOMETIX), or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office during normal business hours.

For those that can’t make it to the Dome, Voice of the Orange Matt Park will have the call on the Syracuse ISP Network’s flagship (TK-99.5 FM) with the pre-game show beginning 90 minutes before tipoff. The radio network broadcast is available live on Orange All-Access. The game will also be televised live nationally on ESPN.

In addition to the Panthers, the Orange will face Seton Hall on the road March 5 before returning home to host #21/21 Marquette on March 8 in the regular-finale. Syracuse is currently tied with Villanova and Seton Hall for ninth in the conference, but can improve its standing and NCAA Tournament resume with some wins down the stretch.

The Dome will be a welcome sight for the Orange, which has lost its last two games, both on the road. Syracuse lost 61-50 to a surging Louisville squad on Feb. 18, and in its last outing, at Notre Dame on Sunday, the Orange put up 87 points, but the Irish’s Kyle McAlarney scored 30 points to carry the Irish to a 94-87 victory.

The Orange placed four players in double figures against the Irish. Sophomore Paul Harris (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) led the squad with 22 points and pulled down 12 boards to record his team-leading 10^th double-double of the year. Center Arinze Onuaku (Lanham, Md.) also registered a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Jonny Flynn (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) had 17 points and Kristof Ongenaet (Ghent, Belgium) chipped in 11 to round out SU’s quartet of double-figure scorers.

Flynn has been on the floor for all but one minute the last nine games and he is on pace to be the top scoring freshman point guard in school history. Flynn has 428 points this season. Only Gerry McNamara (467) and Pearl Washington (460) had more in their rookie years.

One of the main reasons for Flynn’s glut of minutes is season-ending injuries to guards Eric Devendorf (Bay City, Mich.) and Andy Rautins (Jamesville, N.Y.). Both players went down with ACL tears, which has shortened SU’s bench.

Injuries have also taken a toll on Pittsburgh. The Panthers lost senior Mike Cook for the season to a torn ACL. Levance Fields also missed significant time with an injury, but has returned and played in the last four games.

With Cook and Fields healthy, the Panthers got off to an 11-0 start. Since then, they’ve gone 10-8 and have lost three of the last four, including a 73-67 win at home against Cincinnati in its last game.

The Panthers have especially struggled on the road. Six of their eight losses have come away from the Petersen Events Center and they are 5-6 in away and neutral site games overall.

Sam Young is the club’s top scorer at 18.1 points per game, which ranks third in the conference. BIG EAST Rookie of the Year candidate DeJuan Blair lists second on the team at 12.2 points per game. Blair also leads the team and ranks third in the league in rebounding (9.6 rpg).

The Orange holds the advantage in the all-time series, 61-34, and is 34-12 in games contested in Syracuse.

Syracuse University Athletics

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