Penn-Syracuse live updates

FINAL: Syracuse 78, Penn 60
It's all over at the Carrier Dome. Looks like it's back to the drawing board for the Quakers, who will face St. Francis (N.Y.) tomorrow afternoon to try and avoid losing the first three games of Glen Miller's Penn career.

2:03: Syracuse 76, Penn 54
Glen Miller is admitting defeat, as the Penn lineup looks like this: Votel, Scheiber, Reilly, Cohen, Egee. At least this will give the young guys some valuable experience against a good team, especially after the way they all looked last night. Meanwhile, Terrence Roberts has just made a fool of himself for the Cuse, clapping after his own made free throw. We know the guy is atrocious at the line, but was that really necessary? By the way, he missed the second one.

4:10: Syracuse 72, Penn 51
The fans are beginning to file to the exits, as it looks to be just about over for the Quakers. The Syracuse student section is hanging around, though, chanting, "We want tacos." Apparently, a ticket stub will get you a free taco at Taco Bell if the Orange score over 75 points. 75 points? A team like this should be able to get that in its sleep; these fans don't know how good they have it. Take notice, Abner's.

5:26: Syracuse 67, Penn 49
This one's still not getting any closer, but Boeheim is upset with his team nonetheless after giving up an Ibby Jaaber steal and inside layup. He has called a full timeout to address the issue.

6:16: Syracuse 64, Penn 47
This one may be getting ugly, with two Mark Zoller free throws narrowing the margin to a still-daunting 17.

7:48: Syracuse 58, Penn 43
The Orange have pushed their lead to a comfortable margin, but the Quakers will get the chance to cut into it when they come back from a media timeout. Ibby Jaaber rejected freshman Paul Harris inside to get the break going for Penn, and Grandieri dished to McMahon, who drew the foul. He'll shoot two in a few.

9:52: Syracuse 56, Penn 43
Turnovers on two straight offensive possessions are haunting the Quakers, as Syracuse has gotten a Paul Harris short-range jumper and a Matt Gorman free throw.

11:50: Syracuse 53, Penn 43
Eric Devendorf has again hit a long-range shot for the Orange, and Zoller missed one of his free throws. Result: the lead is back to 10, but Penn is still very much in this one.

13:04: Syracuse 53, Penn 43
One of the most positive few minutes of the season so far for the Quakers has narrowed the Syracuse lead to just eight. Ibby is up to his old tricks, with a steal and runout for an easy layup, while Cohen has redeemed his ugly last-second shot from last night with a three-pointer. On another Penn possession, the Quakers manage to secure two offensive boards before Zoller gets to the line for two. Still, they've got to start stopping the Orange on defense if the hope to pull any closer

15:32: Syracuse 45, Penn 33
Everytime the Quakers get something good on the offensive end, the Orange seem to have an answer. After an unorthodox Grandieri-to-Jaaber alley-oop for Penn, Matt Gorman comes down on the other end, picks up an offensive rebound, and gets the hoop and the harm to send the Syracuse lead back to 12, free thow pending.

Apparently, Syracuse is also answering Penn's negative plays, as two badly missed Jaaber free throws were countered immediately by two misses for Josh Wright on his end. Go figure.

18:24: Syracuse 40, Penn 28
As per Carrier Dome tradtition, the fans have only now sat back down after standing and clapping until the Orange scored their first points of the half. Unfortunately for Penn, it was on an and-1 for Eric Devendorf, getting three back for Syracuse after Penn had scored the half's first two baskets.

HALFTIME: Syracuse 37, Penn 24
The Quakers close out the half in unimpressive fashion, giving up a three on the defensive end and getting nothing out of the final possession. Grandieri apparently had no idea that the clock was winding down, and by the time he realized, it was too late to look up at the rim and get a quality shot. It will be up to Miller to get that focus back in the locker room, or it may be a long second half for Penn with the Dome rocking and the Orange getting easy buckets.

First half thoughts: Zoller has been a complete non-factor, sitting on the bench for most of the half with two fouls. But even before he sat, he had the chance to go 0-for-3 from the floor, including two misses from long range. Add to that the fact that he hasn't registered a single positive stat besides two steals, and you know things aren't going well for the Quakers.

Ibby is back to his junior-year form, leading all scorers with 12 points on perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from long range. God knows where the Quakers would be without him in this one.

Penn shot just 38.1 percent from the field in the first half, compared to Syracuse's 51.9. In addition, the Quakers coughed up the ball 12 times, still worse than their total of 14 in the first half last night against UTEP. Penn had better get some defense out on the floor and find a way to crack the Syracuse 2-3 zone, or they could have a rough go of things in the second stanza.

And by the way, Sweet, I have no idea why pennathletics.com is not streaming this game. You can get live video of all the BCA Invitational games, though, at suathletics.com. Don't know if that's really worth it, though, as it's $10 for all six games, and you've already missed 3 1/2 of them. Looks like you'll have to stick with The Buzz.

1:55: Syracuse 34, Penn 22
With the Orange beginning to pull away, Miller has called a 30-second timeout to bring things back under control. A few fruitless possessions for Penn, including a silly turnover and a Demetris Nichols rejection on Zoller inside, have given Syracuse the opportunity to extend the lead. A Matt Gorman three and another Terrence Roberts dunk have done just that.

3:36: Syracuse 28, Penn 21
Another media timeout, and Grandieri will be at the line for two after somewhat of a ticky-tack foul on Harris. McMahon has hit his second three of the game to help Penn's cause, but it was answered immediately on the other end with an Orange trifecta.

4:59: Syracuse 24, Penn 18
The Orange has gotten some breathing room with Ibby on the bench taking a blow. The Quakers don't have a clue on offense without him, and an and-1 for Syracuse has extended their lead. Ibby is back on the floor now, as Miller isn't willing to watch this one slip away just yet.

7:23: Syracuse 18, Penn 17
The home team has retaken the lead and the Dome crowd is back in it after a steal leads to a rim-rocking Terrence Roberts jam in transition. Penn is sticking with the bigger and more athletic Orange, though, largely thanks to Ibby still being on the court, unlike last night. The after a long Demetris Nichols two, Jaaber took it coast-to-coast for a quick response. Still, Miller's not happy after the turnover and easy Syracuse score.

9:15: Penn 15, Syracuse 12
Obviously, Jimmy B doesn't like what he's seeing, because he's got his guys in a full-court press and has reverted back to the 2-3 zone. It doesn't seem to matter, though, as an Andreas Schreiber three gives the Quakers their first lead of the night and the freshman his first points in college hoops.

11:44: Syracuse 12, Penn 9
We're at the second media timeout, and the Cuse holds a three-point lead. On one end, Syracuse's Terrence Roberts comes up with an offensive board and stuffs it home to extend the Orange lead. On the other, Votel takes an ill-advised three early in the shot clock. He redeems himself, though, getting on the other end of a long Syracuse pass upcourt and gaining possession for Penn.

13:23: Syracuse 10, Penn 7
Zoller just picked up his second foul after getting a steal on the defensive end and trying to do too much with it in transition. The senior will have to sit, with Brennan Votel in there for now.

14:54: Syracuse 8, Penn 7
McMahon hits two at the line after wisely drawing the second foul on Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf. The Penn sophomore got Devendorf in the air with a pump fake and had the presence of mind to get off a shot to go to the line.

17:26 left: Syracuse 5, Penn 5
Surprisingly, the Orange decided not to come out in its 2-3 zone. After turnovers on each team's first possession, both sides have traded three-point baskets and layups inside to knot the score.

Penn's starting lineup was just announced, and it looks like Ibby has ditched the tee-shirt. Been waiting for that.

Ilario Huober here, live from the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. After some technical difficulties last night for the UTEP game, we'll be coming at you all game long this time around. Starting lineups in 30 seconds. Stay tuned for more.