Syracuse vs. UNC-Asheville

Of course, even without Fab Melo there is no way Syracuse should lose this game. Or even allow it to be close.

The biggest advantage the 1s have over the 16s, other than talent and size, is what Mike Tyson used to have. Opponents are awed by your size and feel defeated before the fight/game even begins.

In all NCAA tournament upsets, the little guy has to feel like he can win. Asheville probably had a false sense of confidence coming in just because Melo was out. Then they came out and starting hitting 3s and taking the lead. They really believe they can win.

Rakeem Christmas and Baye Keita can't catch a pass. A black hole on offense. Speaking of black holes, James Southerland is actually passing a little bit.

I still can't believe Asheville made a 4-point play.

I think Kevin Harlan just likes saying Dickey.

Dion Waiters is awesome. He's making a lot of shots, because he is taking good ones.

It never ceases to amaze me how bad Syracuse can be from the line. And missing the front end of 1-and-1s just kills you.

Asheville has Bruce Hornsby's son. If he could read the above line he would say "some things'll never change. That's just the way it is." Yikes, Bruce Hornsby's hair is terrible.

Asheville had 5 3s in the first half, almost all of them the result of defensive laziness. Syracuse missed 12 3-pointers (on 13 attempts) almost all the result of poor shot selection.

Looks like that play at the should have been ruled a foul. Triche was smacked on the arm with 1 second left on the shot clock.

But SU clearly got away with a goaltend on what should have been an And-1.

Asheville went to the Jim Boeheim Memorial no points offense with a one point lead and ten minutes left.

This is what starts to happen when 1s trail 16s. The 16 gets tight and plays not to lose. And the 1s start to play more aggressively.

Syracuse got very lucky on that lane violation, though I think there really was a foot in the lane. Good strategy to foul Scoop when in the 1-and-1 because he is only a 49% shooter.

Syracuse also got lucky on the out of bounds play with Triche because it was clearly off his hands, but they did not call the obvious foul when the guy ran him over, even though the ball had already bounced away.

I have never seen a team with a lead at the end of a close game foul as often as Syracuse. 6 points in the last two minutes for Asheville with the clock stopped.

For all the Scoop haters out there, and I know you are reading this, remember it was Scoop who scored 7 points early in the second half to get the game back under control. And it was Scoop who hit 4 straight free throws to prevent a miraculous comeback.

Great game by James Southerland, maybe the best of his career given the circumstances. 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 of 5 from 3.

Kris Joseph and CJ Fair shout 4 of 17. Dion Waiters did nothing in the second half except commit bad fouls. But this is how the team has played all season. Someone has a bad game, someone else picks him up. And then carries the team in the next game. Syracuse is going to have to play a lot better against Kansas State. But if they played this bad consistently they wouldn't be 32-2.