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Colonials come calling on Orange

Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) - Now that getting head coach Jim Boeheim his 800th career win is out of the way, the Syracuse Orange can now turn their attention to Robert Morris in the second round of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at the Carrier Dome.

On Monday night, Syracuse was one of the first schools in the nation to kick off the regular season and the team did so with a 75-43 drubbing of Albany at home. The victory made Boeheim the eighth coach in NCAA Division I history to reach that milestone and now joins fellow Big East Conference coach Jim Calhoun of UConn in the exclusive club.

As for the Colonials, a team that operates in the Northeast Conference, this game is their season opener. Last year, the squad finished 24-11 overall and was an impressive 15-3 in conference. The team won the NEC Tournament with a narrow 48-46 triumph over Mount St. Mary's, pushing them into the NCAA Tournament where they bowed to Michigan State in the first round, 77-62.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Orange won the only previous meeting by a score of 103-67 back in 1994.

This Robert Morris squad is almost evenly divided between upper classmen and freshmen and sophomores but more importantly, this group will have to figure out a way to grow without Jeremy Chappell who led the team across the board last season in scoring (16.7 ppg), rebounding (6.3 rpg), assists (112) and steals (86). Even though Chappell played for this tiny program in a non- descript conference, his accomplishments were still quite impressive. Now the baton has been handed to Rob Robinson who is the top returning scorer for the Colonials after putting up 11.2 ppg a year ago. Senior guard Jimmy Langhurst should also be a factor for RMU after shooting an impressive 42.3 percent from three-point range, but he missed the team's preseason bout against Shippensburg last week with an injured finger. Velton Jones is someone who can log minutes at the position if needed, but head coach Mike Rice is well aware that the team's success in this game and the rest of the season lies in the hands of four true freshmen who will have to grow up fast.

As has been the case for many a season under coach Boeheim, the Orange again took the easy way out when opening a new campaign, pushing around tiny Albany in a 75-43 final at the Carrier Dome two nights ago. Defensively, Syracuse held the visitors to just 27.3 percent shooting from the field and 17.9 percent behind the three-point line. However, the Orange had their own share of issues with just 2-of-17 behind the three-point line, 48.4 percent at the charity stripe and 21 turnovers against a team that the Big East beast should have crushed all the way around. Arinze Onuaku had a team-high 14 points in the win, while Wes Johnson, Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine all tallied a dozen points. One player who had a game he'd much sooner forget was Andy Rautins who was held scoreless as he missed all six of his field goal attempts. Rautins is one of the more experienced players on the current roster, last year scoring 10.5 ppg while shooting 102-of-279 behind the three-point line. He, along with Onuaku (10.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg in 2008-09), will be expected to carry this group for the duration.


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