Syracuse University has won three straight games and already has done enough to probably secure its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2006, when a hobbled Gerry McNamara and the Orange lost to Texas A&M in the first round after winning the Big East Tournament.
SU (22-8, 10-7) owns three wins over ranked teams in the pre-conference season, Florida, Kansas and Memphis; beat then-No. 12 Notre Dame before the Irish plummeted; and will finish no worse than seventh in the rugged Big East Conference.
But if there's one hole in SU's rsum, it's a marquee win in league play.
The 25th-ranked Orange can rectify that today in its regular-season finale at Marquette.
The Golden Eagles (23-7, 12-5) are No. 13 in the country and will finish no worse than fifth in the Big East. But they're 0-3 since senior guard Dominic James broke his foot, a season-ending injury, on Feb. 25.
"It doesn't even matter that James won't be there. I think they are a great team,"
SU forward Kristof Ongenaet said after Tuesday's 70-40 dismantling of Rutgers.
This isn't any ordinary losing streak for Marquette. It lost 93-82 at No. 1 Connecticut on Feb. 25, when James went down four minutes in, and then 62-58 at No. 6 Louisville. On Wednesday, the Eagles led No. 3 Pittsburgh by nine points early in the second half before a 21-2 Panthers push ruined their upset bid, 90-75.
SU coach Jim Boeheim sees little shame in the Eagles losing to three of the top six teams in the country. He also has been reminding people that James never hurt SU much in the past.
"They may player better (without him), you never know," Orange forward Paul Harris said. "We just have to go up there and worry about ourselves and worry about playing great defense."
There's that word. Defense.
It's something the Orange has done well in its last three wins, albeit against Big East bottom-feeders St. John's and Rutgers and a Cincinnati club that lost at South Florida after being buried 87-63 at the Carrier Dome on last Sunday.
"I think at times we played well on defense earlier in the year. I just don't think we were as active as we are now,"
Boeheim said.
"I just think they are making adjustments better."
A win today would give SU the No. 6 seed in the Big East Tournament and a 9 p.m. game Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday's game between No. 14 South Florida and the No. 11 seed. Georgetown and Seton Hall are tied for 11th, half a game ahead of St. John's.
SU is presently tied for sixth with West Virginia (21-9, 10-7) but owns the tiebreaker because it beat the Mountaineers, who host Louisville tonight.
SU would be seeded eighth if it loses today because it loses either a two-way tiebreaker with Providence (18-12, 10-8) or a three-way tiebreaker with Providence and West Virginia.
The No. 8 seed plays at noon Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday's game between No. 9 Cincinnati and No. 16 DePaul.
