Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

James Southerland, Syracuse holds on against Arkansas

James Southerland

Syracuse’s James Southerland (43) looks to make a pass during an East Regional NCAA tournament second-round college basketball game against UNC-Asheville in Pittsburgh, Thursday, March 15, 2012. ( AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

James Southerland tied a Syracuse school record, with nine 3-pointers, en route to a career-high 35 points off the bench, leading the No. 6 Orange over Arkansas 91-82 as part of the SEC/Big East Challenge.

Southerland had 28 points, including eight 3-pointers, when he picked up his fourth foul with 15 minutes remaining, with the Orange holding a 57-47 lead. The Razorbacks would get within five, before Triche, the other Cuse senior took over. The senior guard scored 10 straight Orange points, bumping the lead up to 13.

B.J. Young ended with 25 points for Arkansas. The Razorbacks are at .500 with a 3-3 record.

Syracuse is 5-0, asking the question: how good is Syracuse this season?

Indiana and Duke have headlined college basketball’s first month. Indiana outlasted the long, Georgetown zone and ran North Carolina off the floor earlier this week. In the meantime, the Blue Devils made it a habit running top-5 teams off the floor - Kentucky, Louisville, Ohio State - to go along with wins over Minnesota and VCU.

Michigan, Louisville, Kansans, Florida, and Gonzaga are just a few of the teams that have also had impressive first months and will be around come March.

Syracuse is clearly in the mix with one of the more talented rosters in the country. Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche should be considered as good as any backcourt, especially on the defensive end when 6-foot-6 Carter-Williams and 6-foot-4 Triche can make it difficult for shooters (5-of-24 from behind the arc for Arkansas). With C.J. Fair, Dajuan Coleman, Rakeem Christmas, James Southerland, and Bay Moussa Keita, Cuse also feature big bodies at the bottom of the zone.

More importantly, Cuse showed how balanced it can be in Friday’s win over Arkansas. Four players in double figures and had players step up when needed to. When Southerland went down with his fourth foul, Triche and Fair both made big plays to keep Arkansas from climbing back into the game.

The Orange struggled with the Razorbacks’ pressure, coughed the ball up 19 times and still was able to win on the road. And that will the last time Syracuse is on the road this calendar year. The Orange have nine-straight home games before a Jan. 6 matchup at South Florida.

Terrence is also the lead writer at NEHoopNews.com and can be followed on Twitter: @terrence_payne