You usually can't gain much from a game against a team like Columbia. But this game said about as much about Syracuse as their win against North Carolina. Well, probably not that much, but it did show the team's character. On Tuesday against Cornell, Mookie Jones had words with Boeheim and then stormed off the court. A few minutes later he brought back by assistant coach Lazarus Sims. This sparked the blog Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician to say, "raise your hand if you had Mookie Jones in the First-Player-To-Transfer Pool." With that type of blow-up it seemed Jones was on his way out. But what followed is why this team is so good.



Many of his teammates talked to Jones about his problems and told him he'd get his time if he just put in the work. Jones was upset about his lack of playing time after staying in Syracuse for the summer and working on his game. Jones told the Post-Standard:

It's been painful. I just played in Madison Square Garden, the California game. Got in early the North Carolina game. Thought I was off to a better start. I guess I kinda jumped the gun. I saw like the last five minutes (of the Cornell game) and kind of felt, like, disrespected in a way. So I wasn't really feeling it. But I just gotta build confidence in Coach, show him that I can be out there and that I can play ... I love Syracuse. I love what he's doing. I just gotta prove myself and work. Keep working. I ain't gonna give up.

What more could you want from this situation? It's understandable that he wants to play - especially against these lesser teams so he can prove his worth. You want a player to have that passion. Having words with Boeheim and storming off clearly isn't the way to handle it and it seems he gets that and is now willing to do what it takes to earn that playing time.

Mookie played 14 minutes and scored 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting from three-point range. He was a key part of the Orange's early second half run. It seems like this is always when the Orange make their move. After a lackluster first half in which they were only up by nine, they came out with the defensive intensity that has led this team to a 6-0 start. They went on a 19-3 run in the first six and a half minutes to break the game open. Wesley Johnson had a career-high 26 points and what's more impressive is he did it on just 13 shots.

Syracuse has a couple cupcakes left in Colgate and Maine before they travel to Gainesville to play Florida. Florida is currently unranked but that will change this week. They upset No. 2 Michigan State on Friday to improve to 5-0.