Terrence Roberts sat with his back to the scorer’s table Saturday night, a frown crossing his face. His tired expression belied the fact that Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has given Roberts and his fellow freshmen quite a wake-up call lately.

In the Orangemen’s 66-45 loss to Pittsburgh at the Carrier Dome, SU’s freshmen played more minutes than they have in any previous game this season.

Demetris Nichols logged 20 and scored five points. Darryl Watkins played 17 and went scoreless. Louie McCroskey, the first freshman to see significant minutes this year, played 13 and scored two. As for Roberts, who before the season predicted he’d play often, he walked to the scorer’s table with 1:30 remaining in the game but never got a chance to step on the court. He’s averaging 2.9 minutes this season.

‘I think some of our young guys maybe needed a game like this to understand that this is a pretty tough, physical league and they’ve got to make some adjustments,’ Boeheim said. ‘Maybe they might not be quite so anxious to think that they should be playing a lot of minutes.’

Said McCroskey: ‘If it was a closer game, I don’t think any of us would’ve played.’

The three freshmen combined to shoot 2 of 14. McCroskey, who has developed an outside touch lately, hit 1 of 7 shots.

‘Guys that can shoot (like McCroskey and Nichols) aren’t ready to play in this league, period,’ Boeheim said.

Watkins, who has essentially replaced Jeremy McNeil as SU’s back-up center, appeared more confident on defense, blocking four shots. But for the second consecutive game, Watkins missed a layup – without hitting the rim. His line against Pittsburgh – 0-of-3 shooting, 0-of-4 on free throws, one rebound and four blocks – makes him look like the second coming of McNeil.

‘I think we can use the freshmen once in a while with a few minutes here, a few minutes there,’ Boeheim said. ‘But on a steady basis, our veterans are going to have to pull the weight this year.’

Feeling a Taft

Chris Taft was one of the most sought-after high school players in the nation last season. As a senior at Xaverian High in Brooklyn, he was named New York State Player of the Year.

Now, Big East teams are struggling to stop him. He’s the Panthers’ fourth-leading scorer, with 10.7 points per game.

Against SU on Saturday, the 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward had 15 points and eight rebounds and was one of the biggest reasons why the Panthers out-muscled the Orangemen all night in the paint.

Taft has already earned Big East Rookie of the Week honors three times this season. Only four other Pittsburgh players have earned three Rookie of the Week awards in a season.

Another McRip

Perhaps Watkins wants to avoid emulating McNeil’s stat lines.

McNeil sat out the entire game for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. A reporter asked Boeheim why McNeil didn’t play against the Panthers.

‘Watch the first 15 games,’ Boeheim said in keeping with McNeil rip-jobs that have become a staple of his postgame press conferences.

This and that

The crowd of 31,347 was SU’s largest of the season. Since Dome officials eliminated the blue curtain on one side of the court, fans in the upper deck sat as far away as what would be the opposite 35-yard line of the football field. … Syracuse last lost two consecutive games during the NIT at the end of the 2001-2002 season. … The Orangemen hit just 11 of 25 free throws and missed seven consecutive shots from the charity stripe at one point in the second half. SU has hit 62.9 percent of its free throws this season. … Earlier this season, Pittsburgh beat Georgetown, 79-74. And that would be Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky. Lest you slam the Panthers for scheduling patsies, know that the mighty Tigers advanced to the Final Four last season. The NAIA Final Four.

Published on January 25, 2004 at 12:00 pm