big east game #10 ... #3 syracuse 85, providence 68 ... had to work, didn't get to see or hear the game ... looks like this one went as you might have expected ... the orange regained their shooting touch (57.6%) ... and they set the new standard for best start in school history (22-1) ... things that might not have been expected ... wes johnson fell awkwardly and hard early in the 1st half and played only 22 minutes ... super sub kris joseph had a career high 23 points (9-11)/7 rebounds/4 steals/5 turnovers ... "ao" (arinze onuaku) scored a season high 20 points (10-12)/7 rebounds/4 blocks/2 steals/4 turnovers ... brandon triche chipped in 15 points ... and big man rick jackson led in assists (7) ... can't help but mention the turnovers (16) and poor free throw shooting (63.2%) ... a year ago, syracuse went to providence in the middle of a miserable slump (1-3 in last 4 after 16-1 start) and lost 100-94 ... this time around, providence coach keno davis left town saying all the right things

"i think they’re as good as anybody in the country ... they just have so many guys who can have big games against you ... and there’s their defense, as well ... and then they’re pretty physical when you try to rebound ... they have all the dimensions ... they’ve got several pros on that team ... they’re just a deep, physical, talented team"

next up is cincinnati (14-7/5-4) at 2:00 pm on sunday afternoon from "fifth third arena", home of the bearcats ... let's hope the orange shoot better in cincinnati than they did last weekend in chicago ... cincinnati is a better team than depaul ... in "bracketology" terminology, cincinnati is "on the bubble" ... their chances get better the longer pittsburgh's freefall continues ... but they still have to face uconn, marquette, west virginia, villanova and georgetown ... bottom line, cincinnati needs to win this game