Syracuse University
DePaul University
Orange Hosts DePaul on Senior Day
3/4/2011 2:05:08 PM | Men's Basketball
| GAME #31 | ||
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vs. |  |
| Game Info | Saturday, March 5 | 4 p.m. | Game Notes | |
| Location | Carrier Dome | Tickets | |
| Game Day | ||
| TV/Radio | BIG EAST Network | TK99 | espn3.com | |
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – No. 12/12 Syracuse (24-6, 11-6) closes out the regular season on Saturday, March 5 when it hosts DePaul (7-22, 1-16) at 4 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. It will be the final home game for the Orange's lone senior, Rick Jackson. Jackson and two senior managers will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
Tickets for the game can be purchased online, at the Carrier Dome Box Office (Gate B) or by calling 1-888-DOMETIX. Fans can watch the game live on the BIG EAST Network or listen to the action via the Syracuse Sports Network and its flagship TK99 (99.5 FM). The audio stream of the radio broadcast will be available on SUathletics.com as part of Orange All Access. Subscriptions to Orange All Access are available at daily, monthly and yearly rates.
MUCH AT STAKE IN FINALE
A win against DePaul would give Syracuse the No. 4 seed in next week's BIG EAST Tournament and a bye into the quarterfinals. The Orange, which has won four in a row, is currently tied for fourth place with St. John's. Both teams enter the final regular-season contest with 11-6 marks in conference play. If both teams win on Saturday, Syracuse would get the fourth seed after beating the Red Storm earlier this season. St. John's plays its final game at USF.
Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville have secured the top three spots in the regular-season standings and the other three byes to the quarterfinals. The BIG EAST Tournament starts Tuesday, March 8 in Madison Square Garden. The championship game will be played on Saturday, March 12 at 9 p.m.
JACKSON TO PLAY IN FINAL HOME GAME
Senior Rick Jackson will take the court for the last time in the Carrier Dome on Saturday. He will make his 139th career start, a total that ranks third all-time at Syracuse behind Stephen Thompson (144) and Derrick Coleman (143). Jackson is one of four Orange players who have accumulated 1,000 points, 800 rebounds and 200 blocked shots. He joined the elite group that includes Roosevelt Bouie, Derrick Coleman, Rony Seikaly and Etan Thomas.
This season, Jackson has recorded 17 double-doubles, which leads the BIG EAST. He also leads the league in rebounding (10.8), field goal percentage (.591) defensive rebounds (7.2) and blocked shots (2.4). He is averaging 13.1 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ORANGE
Junior Scoop Jardine scored 17 points to lead Syracuse to a 58-51 victory against No. 11 Georgetown on Saturday, February 26 in the Verizon Center. The win avenged an earlier season loss to the Hoyas in the Carrier Dome.
Leading 17-16, Syracuse went on a 7-1 scoring run to increase its advantage to 24-17 with 4:38 remaining. Georgetown recorded the next four points to cut the lead to three, but James Southerland's put back on a missed shot gave SU a five-point advantage. Southerland hit back-to-back field goals, including a three-pointer with 28 second remaining, as the Orange went into the locker room up 33-23.
Syracuse took its largest lead of the game, 37-25, at the 17:21 mark on field goals by junior Kris Joseph and senior Rick Jackson. Jason Clark's two three-pointers sparked the Hoyas on a 10-1 scoring run that brought Georgetown to within three at 38-35 with 14:04 remaining. SU led, 43-38, before Georgetown registered seven unanswered points to take a 45-43 lead with 10:03 on the clock.
Syracuse regained the lead on a basket by Jardine and owned a 54-46 advantage with 3:57 left in the game. Georgetown came back, scoring the game's next five points to cut the lead to 54-51 at the 1:23 mark. That was as close as the Hoyas would get as sophomore Brandon Triche was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 23 seconds to secure the victory for the Orange.
Jackson finished with 12 points and led the Orange with seven rebounds. Triche and Southerland added nine points apiece.
SCOUTING DEPAUL
DePaul enters its regular season finale with an overall record of 7-22 with a mark of 1-16 in BIG EAST play. Earlier this week, Blue Demons played Rutgers in their last home game of the season. The Scarlet Knights defeated DePaul, 68-64, in that game.
Freshmen Cleveland Melvin and Brandon Young lead the Blue Demons in scoring, averaging 14.3 and 12.7 points per game, respectively. Melvin leads the BIG EAST in scoring among freshmen. Young garnered BIG EAST Rookie of the Week honors this past week for his efforts against St. John's and USF.
Oliver Purnell is in his first season as the head coach of DePaul, his 22nd season overall. He has an overall record of 401-301 (.571). Prior to DePaul, Purnell was the head coach at Clemson for seven years.
THE SERIES
Syracuse leads the all-time series against DePaul, 7-4. Since DePaul joined the BIG EAST in the 2005-06 season, the two teams have met every year. The Blue Demons defeated the Orange in their first meeting as BIG EAST members. Since then, Syracuse has won four consecutive games against DePaul, including a 59-57 victory last season.
