Crushing Orange: Syracuse Orangemen Pummel Villanova Wildcats. Two Ways.

Here endeth the lesson.

The big dog of the Big East has shown himself and he’s wearing Orange. If you’re playing the biggest game in the conference for the biggest stakes, things like a conference championship and a No. 1 seed, why not do it in style?

Evidently the definition of winning in style is a 95-77 shellacking in a game that was never even close.

Keep in mind, that wasn’t an NAIA school that took the floor against Syracuse. That was a legit top 8 Villanova Wildcat club that is much better than, say, Oklahoma State or Tennessee . Much better .

Sorry Kentucky and Kansas fans, that’s the honest to goodness truth.

The virtuoso performance the Orangemen put on tonight in the Carrier Dome is what a No. 1 team is supposed to look like. It’s big boy basketball in a big boy conference.

Lost in the boxscore and the rhetoric of TV talking heads is the fact that Syracuse didn’t win just one game tonight, they really dominated two games.

Let me explain.

When we previewed this game, one of the keys for Villanova was to make the game a fullcourt affair because it took the onus off of the Wildcat interior disadvantage and put an emphasis on guard play, which was supposed to be a huge advantage for Villanova.

For Syracuse, we posited that they would be happy with a simple stalemate in the battle of the backcourts. If Jardine, Rautins, and Triche could just value the basketball until they could find their horses inside, they’d have a great shot to win.

In the first half, a game played at an up-and-down pace by Jay Wright’s design, not only did the Syracuse guards get a stalemate, but they outplayed their Villanova backcourt counterparts by double digits.

Rautins and Jardine dominated one of the two or three best collections of guards in America for a half, which is absolutely amazing, and frightening depending on where your rooting interests lay.

So dominant was the Syracuse guard performance that Jay Wright felt desperate enough to turn the game into more of a halfcourt battle, which is when the interior Orangemen war daddies Rick Jackson, Arinze Onuaku, and Kris Joseph just bludgeoned the Villanova Wildcat interior on offense, and stifled the Wildcat guards with their patented active, trapping zone on defense.

Hence a convincing victory in the second game, within the game. Two different halves, two different styles, one dominating result for the Syracuse Orangemen.

Be afraid, America. Be very afraid.

My MVP of the game is Scoop Jardine. His play in the first half allowed Syracuse not only to keep pace in the open floor but thrive and dominate vs. the talented Villanova Wildcat backcourt. Brandon Triche looked to be a bit out of his element and Jardine came in to pick up the slack.

Without Jardine’s contribution early in the game, I’m not sure Syracuse gets the opportunity to pound Villanova inside with the frequency they enjoyed in the second half because it’s doubtful Jay Wright’s hand is forced to play in a halfcourt setting without great Syracuse guard play.

My beasts of the game are the pivot combo of Onuaku and Jackson, who combined to go 16-of-25 from the floor with 17 boards, 11 of which were offensive caroms.

Simply dominant.

Most schools have at least one above average post defender in their normal rotation, but very few have two elite post defenders they can deploy without cheating their team’s ability to score the ball.

Villanova is no different in that they have one decent post defender and everyone else is an offensive reach.

Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson absolutely dominated the paint on both ends mainly because they’d seek out the weakest Villanova post defender. Or just rebound over them.

Had Villanova decided to play two halves of halfcourt style basketball, the Wildcats likely lose by 30 because of this duo’s performance. Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson were that dominant.

The stat of the game is a tie.

First, Rautins and Johnson combining to go 5-of-20 from the floor is a head-scratcher when you consider the final score. Second, the 12 dimes combined for these two players tell an even better tale if you’re a Syracuse fan.

It takes a special kind of player with a special level of maturity to defer to teammates when your own stroke is off. Rautins and Johnson played as unselfishly tonight as two superstars can play. That’s leadership, and leadership wins championships.

The unsung hero of the game is sixth man Kris Joseph. The explosive 6-7 sophomore wing came off the bench to stuff the stat sheet for 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting, nine man-sized boards, and three assists. Joseph may be the best sixth man in America and tonight’s performance did nothing to hurt his case.

Overall, the game didn’t live up to the billing or the hype mainly because Villanova was simply outmatched. Being outmatched against this Syracuse club is nothing to apologize for because the Orangemen are the most impressive team I’ve seen this year.

They can win playing any tempo, style, or pace you want to play and their unique defensive zone scheme is something teams simply can’t prepare for.

Based on tonight’s performance and what I’ve seen from the Orangemen over the course of this season, it would be a huge upset if they failed to get to the final four. They’re that good.

So good that they’re able to win twice in one night.

This article was written by Kevin Berger of March To March

Follow Kevin on Twitter: @MarchToMarch