Syracuse 83 – St. John’s 69
SYRACUSE – This should be a time of great joy and expectation in the Orange Nation. Instead, the fans and coach have the disposition of a motorist whose car is stuck in a snow bank on Interstate 81.
Syracuse won its 23rd game of the season last night, a wire-to-wire crushing of St. John’s, 83-69. Hakim Warrick looked like one of the most dominant players in the country, scoring a career-high 35. The Orange snapped a two-game skid and can build some serious mojo going into the Big East Tournament.
But there is trouble in this frigid basketball land that never will be confused with paradise. With just three games left in the regular season, Boeheim used his fourth starting lineup.
“I don’t like it; it’s not good,” Boeheim said of the various starting lineups. “Every change we made, we made for different reasons. It’s a hard team to figure out.”
Sharpshooter Gerry McNamara must be in there but he crumpled to the Carrier Dome court after spraining his left ankle with 12:21 remaining. He returned from the locker room with a huge bag of ice wrapped around the ankle.
Troubled point guard Billy Edelin, who seemed to have put his problems behind him this season, was benched the entire game after disagreeing with Boeheim over a late-game substitution in the finals minutes of the Orange’s 65-60 loss at Boston College.
“Overall he’s taken a step back from doing the thing he needs to do [off the court],” said Boeheim. “Until I feel he’s taken care of all those things his status is, he’ll be at practice.”
The Orange’s five losses have come against the five elite opponents on its schedule – Oklahoma State, Pittsburgh twice, Connecticut and BC. There is no statement win the Orange can draw on come tournament time.
Somebody call roadside assistance. Syracuse (23-5l, 10-4 Big East) looks like an ’05 Cadillac Escalade, but is coming apart inside like a ’91 Hyundai.
“You’re right in that we haven’t beaten those teams, and, if we were getting beat by 10 or 15 by all or even one of them, I’d be more concerned,” said Boeheim. “We been right there.”
Daryll Hill kept St. John’s (9-15, 3-11) in the game by scoring a career-high 33 points on 13-of-22 shooting. He knocked down 7-of-13 3’s, tying the school-record of seven set by Bootsy Thornton in 1999. Hill said his shooting was awful in warm-ups but came round by game time.
“I kind of felt like my shot was going down,” said Hill. “It felt good.”
If only the coach of the team with 23 wins felt as good.
