#3 Syracuse Edges #21 Cincinnati

       With a weekend full of great basketball, what a great way to end it with a showdown between two of the Top 25 teams in The Syracuse Orangemen against the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Orange Men were coming off their greatest victory of the season, taking down the #1 team in the nation, Louisville, and their star point guard Peyton Siva. They did not have much time to celebrate the victory because they had to gear up for Sean Kilpatrick and this vicious bearcats team. The game was pretty intense as expected with a tight game, neither team playing great defense, but Syracuse was able to end the half on top by a score of 22 to 18. After the half it was apparent that Sean Kilpatrick wanted this win for his team producing 21 points with 5 rebounds. Unfortunately for the Bearcats the only other person playing well was JaQuon Parker. On the other side Michael Carter- Williams put up his second great effort of the weekend posting 16 points with 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Although Cincinnati ended up winning the second half, Syracuse ended up holding on for the victory by a score of 57-55. More notable performances by C.J Fair and Brandon Triche each dropping 13 points a piece. After a great weekend for the Orangemen, knocking off the #1 in the nation as well as the #21 ranked team, they are well on there way back to the top of the rankings. This is a club that can bounce back from tough loses and end up defeating some of the best teams in the country.

Michael Carter- Williams guard for Syracuse

Unranked Temple Defeats #3 Syracuse

Unfortunately for Orangemen fans and myself Syracuse suffered a painful loss to the Owls of Temple University in the last few minutes of the game. It was an extremely competitive contest throughout the first half, but anyone watching the game could tell that Temple was hungry for a victory. As the first half came to a close the score was 40-38 with Syracuse out in front. Temple came out of the locker room fired up and ready for a big upset. Khalif Wyatt did everything he could to help out his team with 33 points, 4 assists, and went a perfect 15-15 from the free throw line. Anthony Lee also played a key role in Temples success contributing 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Temple started to take control of the game as the second half progressed. Syracuse was not even playing that poorly just their transition defense was a little shaken and the Temple Owls were just too much to handle. Of course the Orangmen fought back into the game as time was winding down. They ended up making one or two stupid mistakes which lead to fast break points for Temple and then had to foul them in desperation. Even when the game was practically over Michael Carter- Williams was still going strong taking it coast to coast for an easy layup. He finished the game with 13 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds. When the final buzzers sounded the score was 83-79 giving the Temple Owls a key victory to hand Syracuse their first loss of the season. Some outstanding performances include C.J Fair from Syracuse with 25 points, 7 rebounds, and a block. Also the senior Brandon Triche had a fairly solid game where he posted 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. As a Syracuse fan I am always biased towards them, but Temple was able to outplay them both offensively and defensively and that is what lead to their victory.

Khalif Wyatt, guard for Temple