Fab Melo scored a career-high 12 points on 5-of-5 shooting to provide the Orange a lift in their Big East tournament matchup with St. John's.
Twelve points, four rebounds, two blocks. That may not seem like an overly impressive statline, but when your name is Fab Melo, those kinds of numbers are huge. It was that type of play from the much maligned former McDonald’s All-American that helped Syracuse escape St. John’s Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
Coming off of a strong performance in a blowout of lowly DePaul, Melo’s confidence was high. That certainly paid off for the big Brazilian who played his most meaningful minutes in a meaningful game, and scored a career-high 12 points.
Plus, a rich man dies young and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin gets a new job.
New York Governor David Paterson says the state can't afford $2.1 billion in school aid. The state was scheduled to start making payments to schools this Wednesday but is not legally required to pay them until June 1. Paterson says the state will have the money by then.
"Plummeting revenues and record deficits have once again forced me to take extraordinary cash-management actions in order to ensure the continued orderly operation of our government," Paterson said.
Halftime Snack is transitioning from the weekly Football Friday posts, covering Syracuse and college football nationwide, to the new “Friday Five” with analysis and insight on the Orange, the Big East and the rest of college basketball.
To get ready for the basketball weekend, readers can find Halftime Snack’s five “starters,” picked just like any college coach in the country: “1” is the point guard, “2” the shooting guard, “3” the guard/forward hybrid, “4” is usually a forward, traditionally with power but in the modern game, with more dribble. The “5” is the big man, the center, the protector of the paint, King of the Nylon, be big, be a brute, keep ‘em out!