From Where I Sit: The Home Stretch

Apparently, there are a lot of romantics in Syracuse, because for a big Monday Night game that was more meaningful than it probably should be due to our recent 3-game losing streak at home, only a respectable 22,000 showed up to watch the Orange. And it felt like much less than that. Not that those that were there weren't in to it, because they were. It just felt a little lonely on Valentine's night.

Fortunately, it didn't bother the team. They played hard all night, hustling for rebounds and deflections which lead to a nice advantage in fast break points.

CJ Fair, the youngster, once again played significant minutes and did his best to earn more, diving for balls, grabbing rebounds and gliding past defenders. Rick Jackson was a wall at center, defensively making it hard for West Virginia to score in the paint. And Brandon Triche provided an offensive spark that helped Syracuse finally gain the lead and keep it for good.

West Virginia certainly put the outcome in doubt, raining threes and hitting them at a better percentage than some of our players' free throws. But once the threes stopped falling, Syracuse pulled away.

And now we enter the home stretch. The final two weeks of the season. Four games left. Two home, two away. Every game matters for tournament seeding. An unthinkable four-loss disaster would put Syracuse on the bubble. Win out and we may be as high as a four seed. Reality will probably be somewhere in-between.

The exciting thing about tournament time is I believe this team has what it takes to make a run. A Hall of Fame coach. Senior Leadership. And a tough defense, especially against teams that aren't used to the zone. But the scary thing is, it will all depend on match-ups. Get the wrong first-round opponent and we could be sent home early.

Syracuse University Athletics

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