NEW YORK, N.Y. - Things got off to a pretty slow start. The teams were playing hard, but were a bit sloppy with the ball and the shots weren't falling. However, Paul Harris found a spot on the floor he likes and hit a couple of threes to stake Syracuse to an early 8-5 lead.

The arena is a little more than half full, and those that are here are mostly Syracuse fans.

Syracuse comes into today's game 19-11, 9-9 in the league. The big hole in their tournament resume is a poor record against quality opponents. The Orange are only 2-8 against the RPI top 50. Beating Nova won't help that because the Wildcats are just outside the top 50, but losing would be worse, of course.

Harris was apparently too hot, because he came out for the guy with the best name here, freshman Scoop Jardine.