New York's College Team Prevails: Syracuse Downs St. John's

Shhh. Be quiet. Whatever you do, don't tell anyone that our Frankenstein may have come to life. Because if he's for real, Fab Melo could become Syracuse's big secret going into the Tournament.

Now, that isn't guaranteed by any means, but Melo gave a second straight impressive performance, playing a key part in Syracuse's 79-73 victory over St. John's (21-11, 12-6). How huge was the 7 footer? Consider:

• He was absolutely clutch in crunch time. In the last four minutes, Melo had two big layups, an assist and a block. 

• Furthermore, Boeheim kept Melo in at the end despite his four fouls. Looks like he trusts him now.

• Fab finished with 12 points, surpassing his previous career high of 10 he set last game, to go along with 4 rebounds and 2 blocks.

• In fact, Fab came out of nowhere so quickly that even Twitter was confused.

Finally, a reason for Fab Melo to smile (Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard)

The Orange (26-6, 12-6) just look better when Fab Melo is effective. C.J. Fair is great athlete, but he doesn't have Fab's size. Having Melo in there alongside Rick Jackson gives Syracuse two formidable big men. Good to see.

Other bits of tid:

• Brandon Triche led Syracuse in scoring with 22 points, but on 5 of 13 shooting. Not bad, but not very good either.

• The Orange controlled the game inside, recording 10 blocks to the Johnnies' one.

• Four of those came from Rick Jackson, who just missed a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.

• Kris Joseph is starting to feel it on offense again, as he had 14 today. If only he could land those dunks from the foul line.

• C.J. Fair had only 3 points on 1 for 5 shooting, but he was still a factor, grabbing 7 offensive rebounds.

Syracuse's win brought the record of teams getting a double-bye in the Big East Tournament to a mediocre 7-7. Coach Boeheim alluded to this, saying "I've said for two years now, when you sit around till Thursday it's not good. I think it's difficult for the top seeds to do that."

Keep in mind, however, that the combined record of all teams in the Big East Tournament (and any other tournament, for that matter) is also .500. One team wins and the other loses. In the end, only one team survives without losing, so that middling record shouldn't be so surprising.

Give the Johnnies credit for this one though. They played well despite losing D.J. Kennedy less than six minutes into the contest and having two others (Paris Horne, Justin Burrell) foul out. But in the end, they once again fell to Syracuse at its home away from home.