With 8:53 left in the first half on Jan. 30, 2010, No. 4 Syracuse was down 18 to DePaul. The Blue Demons were 1-7 in the Big East. SU was 7-1. The Orange was in danger of becoming the victim of a major upset.

‘We stunk,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said after the game. ‘You have to give DePaul credit.’

Syracuse may have ‘stunk’ to Boeheim, but a potential upset-clinching DePaul 3-pointer missed. With that, so did the Blue Demon’s chances of playing spoilers.

SU was able to escape the Blue Demons with a 59-57 win over DePaul in Rosemont, Ill. And the victory came due to a defensive change and mini-runs.

‘I think we were a little slow coming out, and it seemed they wanted it a little bit more in the first half, and they were making all the shots, and they were beating us to the rebounds,’ sophomore forward Kris Joseph said. ‘It took us a while to click, and after we started pressing and we got onboard a little bit and our momentum got us going, I think that helped us out. Once we started pressing, it helped us out tremendously.’

The slow start Joseph referred to was one that led to the team’s 18-point first-half deficit. SU guard Andy Rautins wasn’t hitting his shots, and the Orange couldn’t seem to score consistently. DePaul made seven of its first eight attempts from the field against SU’s 2-3 zone.

But despite being outplayed, SU clawed its way back from the 18-point deficit and trailed 35-31 at halftime.

‘They came out hot, and it’s tough, and you have to fight through it,’ Rautins said. ‘We chipped away, and our defense got better as the game progressed, and we should have been better on the glass. Rick (Jackson) had a couple of blocks down the stretch and a couple big rebounds, and we had a huge dunk by Wes (Johnson). We made plays when it mattered.’

One of those players who made shots toward the end was guard Scoop Jardine. Fighting back from yet another deficit, this time 54-49 with 5:31 left, Jardine gave the Orange its first lead of the game at 56-54. It eventually increased to 59-54.

And though the Orange only managed to win by two against a Big East bottom feeder, Jardine was pleased with the win.

‘We grinded it out,’ he said. ‘This really showed what we were made of tonight. I’m just happy for everybody. It was a team thing — it wasn’t just one individual. Everyone made a part of this one or did something to make this one.’

Forward Johnson, who had a team-high 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds in the win, could breathe easy after that potential game-winner missed.

The Orange could revel in a close victory in a game in which it didn’t play its best.

‘I was just hoping (DePaul’s last-second 3) didn’t go in because I really wanted to go back home,’ Johnson said. ‘Because it was going to be a long plane ride back home. It was a good look for him.’

–Compiled by Rachel Marcus, asst. copy editor, rnmarcus@syr.edu

 

Published on March 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm