big east game #11 ... #3 syracuse 71, cincinnati 54 ... reality is there are few teams in the country that can match the talent, depth and versatility of this syracuse team for 40 minutes ... cincinnati tried and lasted 28 minutes ... the bearcats actually had a 6 point lead with 12 minutes to go ... this was no repeat of depaul ... the orange came to play today and cincy is better than depaul ... but syracuse owned the last 12 minutes of this one ... the run was 28-5 ... kris joseph and scoop jardine put up points ... rick jackson and arinze onuaku did the rebounding ... andy rautins was awesome all afternoon ... andy kept the cuse in the game in the 1st ... and was the engine that powered the last 12 minutes ... syracuse needed a great day from rautins with wes johnson still aching and in foul trouble most of the game ... andy rautins was high scorer with 20 (4-8 from long distance) and super sub joseph followed-up his career high with 17 today ... jardine scored 11 off the bench ... "ao" had 11 points too ... rick jackson had 10 rebounds ... i've been harping on it, so now i'll give them credit ... syracuse had only 7 turnovers in this one

next up is connecticut (14-9/4-6) at 7:00 pm on wednesday evening ("rivalry week" on espn) from the carrier dome ... this doesn't seem to be uconn's year ... jim calhoun is on medical leave ... the huskies have lost 6 of 9 and they are mired in the bottom half of the big east standings ... but anyone who follows syracuse and big east basketball knows uconn is a top notch program and should never be underestimated ... is there anyone out there who does not remember what happened the last time these teams met ... hint #1: devo hit a game winning 3-pointer at the buzzer ... hint #2: the game ended at 1:22 am madison square garden time ... hint #3: devo fouled out with 7 minutes left in the contest

more good news ... #7 georgetown took down #2 villanova yesterday 103-90 ... first conference loss for 'nova (20-2/9-1) dropped them into a 1st place tie ... with today's win, syracuse (23-1/10-1) moves 1/2 game ahead of the wildcats and into sole possession of the big east lead ... and when the new week's rankings come out tomorrow ... syracuse will move ahead of villanova and should be ranked #2 ... how is it the best basketball conference in the country has 4 teams ranked in the top 7 (villanona #2, syracusae #3, west virginia #6 and georgetown #7) yet not one is or has been good enough to rise to #1