First, Tennessee guard J.P. Prince became a king for a day, scoring six of his 20 points in the final two minutes as the Volunteers stunned second-ranked Kentucky, 74-65, in Knoxville. Then, Oklahoma State forward James Anderson - perhaps the most underrated player in the country - scored 27 points as the Cowboys upset top-ranked Kansas, 85-77, in Stillwater.
Now, given the fact that forward Robbie Hummel of third-ranked Purdue is out for the season with a torn ACL, fourth-ranked Syracuse deserves to be No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll.
The mighty Orange (27-2, 14-2) sits alone in first place in the Big East, arguably the toughest conference in college basketball. It made a bold statement Saturday night, defeating No. 7 Villanova, 95-77, in a prime-time showdown before 34,616 at the Carrier Dome, an NCAA record for an on-campus crowd. Syracuse, which leads Villanova (23-5, 12-4) by two games in the standings, can clinch the league's regular-season title Tuesday if it beats St. John's here on senior night.
"I have no idea who should be No. 1," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "And I don't care. If this was football, I'd be really happy. Just hold on a couple games and we'd be in the national championship. That would be great."
In a year in which the NCAA Tournament figures to be a wild affair, Boeheim's unselfish squad - with its versatile seven-man rotation - has the ingredients necessary to make a run at a national championship. Syracuse is solid at every position and plays the best zone defense in the country, which makes the Orange a difficult matchup against anyone in a single-game elimination.
Syracuse put six players in double figures against 'Nova. The Orange overwhelmed the perimeter-oriented 'Cats in the paint, getting 19 points and eight rebounds from 6-9 senior Arinze Onuaku and 15 points and nine boards from 6-9 junior Rick Jackson, their two powerful big men. They also got 16 points and nine rebounds from athletic 6-7 backup forward Kris Joseph. The Orange outrebounded Villanova 49-40, gobbling up 23 offensive boards. Andy Rautins, the 6-4 shooting guard, handed out eight assists, many off drives to the basket that resulted in layups for his bigs.
Senior guard Scottie Reynolds scored 16 points for Villanova, but the feisty, offensive-minded 'Cats couldn't outscore Syracuse, which constantly got the ball inside and was never bothered by 'Nova's trap pressure after the first 10 minutes, only turning the ball over once in the second half.
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