Game No. 10 - Canisius (3-6) at Syracuse (9-1)
Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Site: Carrier Dome (33,633); Syracuse, N.Y.
Time: 7 p.m.
TV: ESPNU
Talent: Dave Ryan (p-x-p) and Tim Welch (color)
Radio: CJRN 710-AM and through GoGriffs.com
Talent: Jay Moran (p-x-p) and Dave Schofield (color)

FAST BREAK POINTS

• The Canisius College men's basketball travels east on the New York State Thruway to meet nationally-ranked Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
• The Golden Griffins enter tonight's game having dropped three straight and stand at 3-6 overall on the year.
• This game tonight marks the fifth consecutive road game for the Blue and Gold. Since Nov. 25, Canisius has played six of its last seven away from home.
• Syracuse is ranked No. 11 in both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls and starts tonight's contest with a 9-1 record after falling Cleveland State at home Monday night.
• This marks the 97th time in school history Canisius has played a ranked opponent. The Griffs are 13-83 all-time in the 96 previous games, with their last win over a ranked squad coming Dec. 9, 1994 at No. 13 Cincinnati.
• Syracuse is the highest ranked team Canisius has played since Dec. 22, 2002 when the Blue and Gold played host to No. 9 Notre Dame in the HSBC Arena.
• Canisius is 1-5 on the road this season, and the victory at Howard Dec. 1 snapped Canisius' 20-game road losing streak, which dated back to Jan. 29, 2007.
• Canisius is 12-23 all-time in road games against Syracuse and 0-8 in the Carrier Dome against the Orange.
• The program's only win in the Carrier Dome came Dec. 9, 1995 when former head coach John Beilein led the Griffs to a 64-42 victory over Columbia in the consolation game of the Carrier Classic.
• Junior Frank Turner has scored leads the team in scoring with 13.3 points per game. He had a team-high 14 points at Albany Dec. 13, and has posted double figures in the scoring column eight times this season.
• Turner became the first active player in the program to reach the 70-career games played milestone Dec. 7, at Saint Peter's, which is every game under head coach Tom Parrotta.
• Junior center Chris Galdey leads the Griffs with 7.6 rebounds per game, the fifth-best rebounding mark in the MAAC.
• Fellow sophomore Tomas Vazquez-Simmons was credited with his 90 career block Dec. 7, at Saint Peter's, making him the eighth player in school history to reach that mark.
• Guard Julius Coles has at least one steal in all nine games this season and is averaging 9.6 points per game in the team's last five contests.
• This game tonight is a homecoming game for Syracuse, N.Y., native Elton Frazier, who will be making his 33rd career start this evening.
• The Griffs rank second in the MAAC and 46th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, with opponents shooting 38.4 percent against them this season.

ABOUT THE ORANGE

• Syracuse enters tonight's game with a record of 9-1 after losing to Cleveland State at home by a score of 72-69 Monday night.
• The Orange has four players averaging more than 13 points per game, led by Niagara Falls, N.Y. native Jonny Flynn and his 18.1 points per game.
• Paul Harris is posting 13.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for the Orange. Harris also grew up in Niagara Falls, N.Y., which is 15 miles north of the Canisius campus.
• As a team, Syracuse is shooting 50.6 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from 3-point range. The Orange enters tonight's game ranked 13th in the nation in field goal percentage.
• Syracuse ranks ninth in the nation in scoring average at 82 points per game while holding opponents to an average of 67.8 points per contest.
• Head coach Jim Boeheim is 20-1 against Canisius as both a coach (17-0) and a player for the Orange.

CANISIUS - SYRACUSE SERIES

• Tonight's game between Canisius and Syracuse will be the 68th all-time meeting between these two schools, with the Orange leading the series 43-24.
• Syracuse has won 18-straight games in this series, with Canisius' last win coming Feb. 15, 1975 in Buffalo.
• The Griffs are 0-8 all-time against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, with their last visit coming Dec. 30, 2003.
• These two teams first met Feb. 10, 1945 in the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, N.Y., where Canisius posted a 58-45 victory.

CANISIUS vs. RANKED OPPONENTS

• The game against No. 11/11 Syracuse tonight marks the 97th time in program history the team has played a ranked opponent, with the Griffs holding a 13-83 record in the previous 96 contests.
• Canisius has played at least one ranked opponent in four of the last five years and in six of the last 10 campaigns.
• The Griffs' last win over a ranked school came Dec. 9, 1994, when the team went on the road and defeated No. 13 Cincinnati 72-69 in the first round of the Delta/Bearcat Classic.
• Including tonight's matchup with Syracuse, eight of the last 10 ranked teams Canisius has faced are currently members of the Big East Conference.
• Since the 1949-50 season, the Griffs have played a ranked Syracuse team 14 previous times. Canisius is 1-13 in those games, with the win coming Feb. 25, 1967 in Buffalo by a score of 68-64.