Fab Melo voluntarily appears in city court Wednesday for incident two days earlier.
Sophomore center Fab Melo, 20, appeared before Syracuse City Judge James Cecile Wednesday to plea not guilty for criminal mischief charges relating to a Monday incident. The court called Melo - full name Fabrico P de Melo - in for questioning and he voluntarily came before Cecile in court.
It was an offensive battle against the Friars on Tuesday night, but the Orange defense came out on top.
Led by Rick Jackson and Andy Rautins in a rallying, offensive shootout against Providence on Tuesday night, the No. 4 Syracuse Orange shut it down in a 99-85 win. Both players scored 28-points, a season-high for Rautins and a new career-high for Jackson.
The Orange recovered from an eight-point deficit to beat the feisty Friars and reach their highest point total in the Big East this season. The win also earned them a double-bye into the quarterfinals of the upcoming Big East tournament.
Offensive woes give Syracuse its second loss of the season in a 66-60 Valentine's Day defeat by Louisville.
For the second straight game, the Orange took an early double-digit lead, then squandered it in the final minutes. This time, they couldn’t recover.
“You can’t be in all these games and get down to the end and think you’re going to win,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “You’ve got to play better during the game and tonight offensively we just were not good. And I think that’s the bottom line.”
This is the third installment of “Friday Five,” a weekly column with analysis and insight on the Orange, the Big East and the rest of college basketball.
Halftime Snack is out of position and just got called for a blocking foul. This theme is going to run wild, or fall over with a thud.