This is the second year in a row Syracuse has had the benefit of the double bye at the Big East tournament, but the first time it has actually taken advantage of it.

The Orange earned a hard-fought 79-73 victory over St. John's to earn a matchup with Connecticut in the semifinals on March 11. The extra rest didn't look to have hurt Syracuse any, but that doesn't mean coach Jim Boeheim likes it.

"I've said for two years now when you sit around till Thursday it's not good," Boeheim said. "I think it's difficult for the top seeds to do that. I'm glad we won so that everybody doesn't think I'm crying but it's I don't think it's a good way to do it.

Pitt would certainly agree. The top-seeded Panthers lost their first tournament game just prior to the Syracuse tipoff. That means instead of playing a top-five opponent, the Orange will meet the ninth-seeded Huskies instead.

It's another tough game in a tournament that likely features 11 NCAA Tournament teams, and the win over the Red Storm reminded coach Jim Boeheim of what he is likely to see when the Big Dance tips off next week.

"That's the way it's going to be in the tournament, it's you can't look ahead, because any of the teams you're playing, they're all good teams," Boeheim said. "College basketball is equal. Everybody's got good players, there are good teams. They're not mediocre teams, they're good teams and when you play one of those teams in the first game if you don't play to a high level you can get beat."

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
Freshman F C.J. Fair picked up seven rebounds in his 14 minutes against the Red Storm. All seven came on the offensive end. He picked up nearly half of Syracuse's 16 offensive boards, a critical part of the 79-73 win.

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