PITTSBURGH — For a while, it looked like Jim Boeheim had forgotten about everyone’s favorite 7-foot, 213-pound center.

But alas, Billy Celuck stepped onto the Fitzgerald Field House court with 18:06 remaining in the second half and played all the way to the 3:05 mark, earning by far his most — and most effective — playing time of the season.

Celuck scored a season-high six points, didn’t commit a turnover in 15 minutes and played decent defense in lieu of centers Craig Forth and Jeremy McNeil, each of whom sat on the bench with foul trouble (not to mention a mouthful from Boeheim after poor rebounding efforts).

‘I wanted to come out there and give a little more enthusiasm, get rebounds and start yelling and screaming,’ Celuck said.

He did a little of it all, though the Orangemen still earned a 72-57 shellacking from Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

Celuck drove the left baseline and rolled in a layup to bring SU to 39-30 with 15:39 remaining in the second half. Brandin Knight and Julius Page answered with back-to-back three-pointers to quell any run.

With SU trailing, 54-40, Celuck got the shooter’s bounce on a 10-foot jumper for his fifth and sixth points. The ensuing possession he had an easy layup but was blocked by Chad Johnson.

Asked about possible increased playing time for Celuck, Boeheim said, ‘His physical strength was still an issue,’ adding it’s tough to use a three-center rotation.

Like a starter

Point guard James Thues has catalyzed plenty of Syracuse runs this season, though he rarely scores himself.

That’s why Thues’ career-high 15 points Tuesday came as such a surprise: He’s scored in double digits only twice in his two seasons at SU.

Thues hit his eighth three-pointer of the season to end the first half and knifed through the Pitt defense for four layups in the second half. He had plenty of time to do so, logging a team-high 38 minutes, including all 20 in the second half.

As an added bonus, Thues, a horrendous free-throw shooter shooting better from the field (48.7 percent) than the line (40.7), hit both of his freebies.

Gotcha!

Mark McCarroll, at one time coveted by Syracuse, hit a big three-pointer that gave Pitt a 54-40 lead with 10:14 remaining in the second half.

If he had qualified academically and enrolled at SU, he would be a junior this season. Instead, the 6-foot-10, 210-pounder from Christ the King High School in Queens is a redshirt freshman averaging 3.6 points and 2.5 rebounds.

Guard Jaron Brown also impressed for the coach who recruited him, SU assistant Troy Weaver, who coached at Pitt from 1996-99. Brown scored four points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Useless Info Dept.

Pitt beat SU in last spring’s Big East Tournament semifinals, 55-54 in overtime. So with Tuesday’s win, it marks the first time since the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons the Panthers beat SU two consecutive times. On March 6, 1988, Pitt beat Syracuse for the Big East Tournament Championship, 85-84. Almost a year later, the Panthers came into the Carrier Dome and snagged an 81-76 victory.

This and that

Right after Thues hit his three to end the first half, a ‘Here we go, Steelers, here we go’ chant broke out in the student section. And with good reason: Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress, linebacker Joey Porter and Pitt graduate and cornerback Hank Poteat stood on the opposite sideline at midcourt hobnobbing with some fans. The Steelers host the New England Patriots in this Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. … While the Pitt fans got plenty raucous about their Steelers, they’re clueless on how to storm a court. After the final horn sounded, a few yellow-shirted fans jumped from the packed stands. On leaked a few others. Then came a couple more. And that’s it. … When Pitt scores in the 70s this season, its record is 8-0.

Published on January 22, 2002 at 12:00 pm