So We Meet Again -- Former SU Assistant Rob Murphy Returns as Eastern Michigan Visits the Orange on NYE

No this isn't Rick Pitino coming back to the Carrier Dome today. A different Boeheim minion is back. It's Rob Murphy (Class of 1997), an assistant coach to Boeheim for seven seasons at Syracuse. Murphy leads his Eastern Michigan Eagles up On the Hill to battle the #2 Orange today.

What the Eagles are up against?

EM has a tough task at hand, as the Cuse just willed itself to a huge win Saturday over Villanova, 78-62, to stay unbeaten and among college basketball's best. Tyler "T-Dot" Ennis continues his phenomenal freshman stint with the Orange. Saturday marked the third notable game (at least in my book) he didn't record a turnover. In outings against Indiana and what was #18 Baylor (now #9 btw), Ennis had a big fat goose egg in the TO column. Pretty impressive out of the gate without a doubt.

Can CJ Fair get off the schneid against the Eagles?

Per ESPN, Fair hasn't had his best games against Eastern Michigan. He's totaled just 12 points on 4 of 13 shooting in two career games against it. However, what is on Fair's side is his recent streak of good basketball. He's shooting more than 50% from the field in five of the last six. He's emerged as SU's go-to scorer, averaging almost 18 a game. Fair will be matched by Eagles forward Karrington Ward and his deep ball shooting this afternoon. Ward does struggle, though, against ranked opponents, as his season average of 15 PPG dips to 9 in those specific games. Fair should be just fine.

Is this THE trap game?

My partner 'n crime Ron Schiltz believed the 'Nova game was a trap match-up for the Orange. Yeah we noticed the skepticism on Twitter, and I understand both angles here. I think this might be the trap game for SU. You have a former assistant coach coming in who understands Boeheim system in Murphy. As a program, Syracuse is also just one game away from when the fun really starts: ACC compeition. Don't tell me these guys like veteran CJ Fair and Baye Moussa Keita are not looking forward to this already. CJ pretty much stayed for his senior year to get this awesome experience. The Orange should cruise in this one but those are some possible angles you can take for making the case that it's a "trap game."

Predicition

Syracuse soars high and above the Eagles 77-52. Did I mention EM comes off a loss to the #9 Duke Blue Devils? A crushing defeat 82 - 59 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. When you are a program that has to face Top 10 opponents in back-to-back games, it's hard to believe you have a chance to even keep up. Just to prove even more we are better than Duke, SU wins by 25 rather than Duke's 23-pt win. Ha ha, Duke! See ya in February. 

Happy New Year from Melo's Cornrows! Follow us during the game on Twitter @Meloscornrows and check out the site afterwards for post-game reaction and Syracuse's New Year Resolution!

--Brendan Glasheen