Saturday, December 01, 2012

James Southerland Scores 35, Michael Carter-Williams Misses Triple-Double by 1, as Syracuse downs Arkansas

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, November 30, 2012

James Southerland scored a career-high 35 points and SU point guard Michael Carter-Williams nearly had a triple-double as Syracuse defeated Arkansas, 91-82, in Friday's featured game of the Big East - SEC Challenge.

Southerland, the 6'8" senior forward who's averaging 19.2 points per game for the usually-balanced Orange, canning 12 of 17 shots, including an impressive 9-for-13 from three-point land. It was easily Southerland's best game as a collegian, eclipsing his previous high of 22 points, set just about a week ago in a 73-53 Orange win over Princeton.

Carter-Williams added 17 points while hitting the boards for 10 rebounds. The sophomore point guard fell just shy of the triple-double, distributing nine assists, right at his seasonal average of 9.2 per game.

Sixth-ranked Syracuse improved to 5-0 on the season. Unranked Arkansas lost its third straight after starting the season 3-0. The Big East continued to dominate the series, winning all four of Friday's contests. The conferences split four games on Thursday.

The challenge wraps up on Saturday with four more games, highlighted by the match-up of #16 Cincinnati hosting unranked Alabama. Both teams are 6-0. Tip-off is slated for 3:00 pm ET.

Call this one the weirdest game of the season. Georgetown hosted Tennessee as part of the Big East - SEC Challenge, but, as the game wore on, it seemed both teams were challenged... to get the round ball into and through the round rims.

The final score of 37-36, won by Georgetown, tied the Hoyas' lowest point total since 1985. For the Vols, it was their second-lowest scoring output over the same span.

AP writer Joseph White has the full, sad story. Kudos to him or whomever penned the headline, which began with the outstanding descriptor: "Clankfest."

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