tfpiccot's Blog

Just one day after the NCAA levied significant sanctions against the Syracuse men's basketball program, the regular season came to a bitter end Saturday afternoon.

Rakeem Christmas scored 15 points and added 12 rebounds in his final game for SU, but it wasn't enough to keep N.C. State from handing the Orange a season-ending loss, 71-57.

Syracuse (18-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) raced out to an eight-point lead with 3:24 left in the first half despite a barrage of double-teams against Christmas in the low post. Each Orange starter scored at least three points in the half, but a late run by N.C. State (19-12, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) allowed the Wolfpack to take a slim one-point lead into the break.

But that lead ballooned in the second, as SU went cold from the field. Christmas and Tyler Roberson combined for 19 points while the rest of the team shot 4-of-17.

Meanwhile, N.C. State's Ralston Turner drained five threes and tallied 19 points to bury any hope of a comeback.

Christmas exited the game with 1:22 left amidst hugs from his teammates and a standing ovation from the SU fans in attendance. Earlier on Saturday, the senior was named one of 15 finalists for the Wooden Award.

Head coach Jim Boeheim did not attend the post-game press conference, saying in a prepared statement that "today should be about this terrific team and how they have made me, our coaches, the University and the community proud during a challenging season on and off the court."

Boeheim was suspended for nine games by the NCAA Friday afternoon.

The Orange will not compete in the ACC Tournament due to a sef-imposed post-season ban last month.

Syracuse's first shorthanded goal of the season couldn't have come at a more opportune time.

Allie LaCombe's tally in the first period stood as the game-winner, and goaltender Jenn Gilligan made 11 saves as the No. 2-seeded Orange knocked off No. 4 Penn State 2-0 in the CHA semifinals Friday evening.

With a win over RIT on Saturday, Syracuse will receive a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.

"It really started in net for us," SU head coach Paul Flanagan said. "(Gilligan) played a great game, but overall I thought this was a great team win. We got the goal early, and in that second period we outshot them 20-4 and played well, and I just felt that if we got one more we'd be o.k. and Kaillie (Goodnough) scored on the power play for us in the third."

LaCombe scored with 6:28 left in the first period, taking an outlet pass from Nicole Renault and firing a wrist shot past Penn State goaltender Celine Whitlinger.

Goudnough provided the insurance goal just over three minutes into the final period with a seeing-eye shot from the point.

The Orange was also sound defensively, allowing only 11 shots. After six penalty kills, SU has now given up only two goals in its last 32 shorthanded situations.

Syracuse and RIT split their season series at two games apiece.

Syracuse's home schedule for the 2014-15 season goes out with a bang tonight, as the Orange will battle No. 2 Virginia at the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN.

Although SU is already banned from postseason competiton, tonight's contest still features plenty of reasons to head to the Loud House or tune into "The Worldwide Leader." Here are a few things to watch for tonight:

Senior Night

Before the game, Syracuse will honor its two seniors, forward Rakeem Christmas and guard Carter Sanderson, during an on-court ceremony.

However, the eyes of the Dome faithful will really be on Christmas, who has developed into one of the best big men in the country this season. The team's leading rebounder and scorer, Christmas will likely be selected in the upcoming NBA Draft. However, this game is his last chance to shine in front of the SU fan base and possibly spark a huge upset.

Where are the points?

Virginia boasts the best scoring defense in the country, a unit that has held three teams to under 30 points this season. The defense is aided by a half-court offense that looks to screech the game tempo to a halt and slowly pick apart the opposition.

Although Saturday's loss to Duke would be an exception, the Orange has shown it can be very effective when it breaks out in transition. With that ability severely limited, SU needs to do something it has struggled with all season.

Make jump shots.

If Trevor Cooney and Michael Gbinije struggle as mightily as they have the past two weeks, it will be a very long night for fans in the Dome.

Sharpshooter

Speaking of Gbinije...

The junior is very close to becoming the first Syracuse player to lead a conference in three-point field goal percentage. He currently sits at 45.4 percent, right on the tail of Boston College's Olivier Hanlan (45.7 percent).

The task won't be easy, as Virginia's defense is second-best in the ACC against shots from beyond the arc.

Perhaps more importantly, Gbinije is in a funk of late, shooting only 3-of-14 from deep over the Orange's past three games. There would be no better time for him to find his stroke and take some of the weight off Christmas, who should have his hands full against Virginia's bigs.

As he took the stage at the Turning Stone Event Center on Wednesday evening, Craig Ferguson promised each member of the audience would leave his standup set offended by something he said over the next 80 or so minutes.

But if any part of his routine upset me, I was too busy laughing hysterically to even notice. 

The 52-year old comedian, best known as the former host of The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and Nigel Wick on The Drew Carey Show, left a packed house at the intimate casino venue repeatedly in stitches during the latest stop on his 'Hot and Grumpy Tour.'

No longer confined by a desk and network television censorship standards, Ferguson paced back and forth across the stage like an angry lion ready to prey on celebrities, culture fads and the annoyances of daily life.

But before Ferguson unleashed his R-rated onslaught, his friend and colleague Josh Robert Thompson (a.k.a. the voice of Ferguson’s robot skeleton sidekick Geoff Peterson on The Late Late Show) appetized the crowd with an excellent series of impressions.

After treating spectators to an Arnold Schwarzengger plot to blow up the moon and a demonstration of how to pick up girls at a bar like Bryan Mills from the “Taken” movie franchise, Thompson delivered his marquee moment by delivering terrible GPS directions as Morgan Freeman.

“Up ahead, make a right or make a left. Ultimately, it’s up to you, and clearly you make bad decisions because you bought this piece-of-s*** Prius. Yeah, we all see your Obama bumper sticker on the f***ing outside. Step on the gas.”

Then Ferguson made his entrance, aided by some surprisingly limber dance moves by “Late Late” horse companion Secretariat. He exchanged pleasantries with everyone, thanking them for helping him live his dream of playing Verona, N.Y., on a Wednesday night in the middle of winter.

But he was a little cranky over the weather, as he recounted a conversation he had with someone earlier in the day.

“Nobody else please say to me, ‘This ain’t cold.’ This is f***ing cold!”

“Oh this ain’t cold.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s cold." 

“Well, that’s because you’re an idiot.”

By this point, it was clear Ferguson was ready to lay on the expletives and the raunchiness, which was a vast departure from the talking head we’ve seen on broadcast television.

He delivered sharp satire of popular Hollywood fads, like plastic surgery and the current state of music. He even compared twerking to what a dog with worms does across the living room carpet.

Ferguson also recalled numerous celebrity encounters, including the time he and musical hero Mick Jagger collaborated on a screenplay. Well, at least before Jagger fired him.

But none compared to the time he met the man, the myth, the legend: saxophone musician Kenny G.

“He was just walking around the party. If you started talking to someone, you’d be like ‘I think I can hear… oh f***, Kenny G!’” Ferguson said. “I think Kenny G could have sex with you, and you wouldn’t even know it.”

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Ferguson said one Hollywood rumor is actually true.

Dr. Phil is an a**hole.

Ferguson poked fun at Catholics, Nazis, the gerbil that supposedly inhabits Richard Gere’s…um… rear body cavity and even his own colon seemingly without stopping to take a breath. 

The entire audience ate it up. Even the gentleman that left 10 minutes into the show to get a beer, much to Ferguson’s ire.

I can try to analyze every joke and measure audience response in an effort to grade Ferguson’s set, but there’s no exact formula for evaluating a standup routine. When you’re telling dozens of jokes in rapid-fire succession, a couple are bound to bomb or draw a lukewarm reaction at the very least.

So instead, I’ll simply say my eyes burned painfully for a good five minutes from the laughter tears that kept welling in their lids. If that’s not the sign of an awesome performance, then I don’t know what is.

You can catch Craig on the Hot and Grumpy Tour through March 21st in cities across the United States.