As he watched his teammate step to the free-throw line Saturday night, Craig Forth sat on the bench and mulled over a thought.

Jeremy McNeil would soon shoot two free throws that, if made, could knot the score between No. 24 Syracuse and No. 2 Pittsburgh. Two big shots, stemming from one big Pittsburgh foul, that could turn a big game.

“And it kind of just hit me,” Forth said. “It’s only right that it ends this way, that the biggest play is because of a foul and a few free throws. Because that had been the story of the game.”

Most of Saturday’s big plays came because of fouls. In the first half, Syracuse fell far behind because it couldn’t hit free throws. In the second, SU came back because it could. Serious foul trouble put SU’s comeback in jeopardy before one serious foul — and McNeil’s two converted free throws — tied the game and allowed Syracuse to escape with a 67-65 win at the Carrier Dome.

“Before that last foul that gave me (the tying free throws), I thought fouls were going to kill us,” McNeil said. “All those fouls definitely made it pretty scary.”

When Syracuse won the game, four of its five players on the court had four fouls. Freshman Carmelo Anthony picked up his fourth midway through the second half and had to spend five minutes on the bench.

Hakim Warrick was called for his fourth a few minutes later. Kueth Duany picked up his fourth late in the game, as did McNeil — who was in mainly because starting center Forth was already on the bench with four.

“We didn’t talk about the fouls,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “We had to just play through it.”

Fortunately for SU, Pittsburgh couldn’t take advantage. The Panthers made just 14 of 29 free throws, or 48 percent. Plus, they suffered from foul trouble of their own. Chevon Troutman, who scored a team-high 16 points, fouled out with a few minutes left.

“It looked like everyone was going to foul out,” McNeil said. “But the biggest thing is we all started hitting the free throws.”

After making just seven of 15 freebies in the first half, Syracuse shot 11 of 14 from the line in the second half. None were bigger than the two from McNeil, who had made a team-low 28 percent from the line coming into the game.

“He hasn’t made those in practice since I’ve been here,” Boeheim said. “Never, and we try it every day. So I don’t know if there was a lot of confidence in those two.”

“We were all looking around on the bench like, ‘Is he going to make them?’ ” point guard Billy Edelin said. “I don’t know if anyone really felt like he would. But those two made the game.”

Keeping Pace

Ten minutes might not sound like much. But for SU shooting guard Josh Pace, it’s beginning to seem like a good night’s work.

Pace played 10 minutes Saturday, the most he’s played in more than two weeks. Since point guard Billy Edelin’s return Jan. 18, Pace has averaged a little more than four minutes a game.

“It felt good to get in a little bit more,” Pace said. “(Boeheim) knows that whenever he needs me, I’ll come in and help out off the bench. I guess he thought I did that well.”

On Saturday, Pace scored two points and grabbed three rebounds. In the second half, he slashed toward the hoop and hit a floating layup to put Syracuse within four.

“Josh gave us a good boost off the bench,” Boeheim said. “He gave us what we needed.”

But it didn’t come without a cost. Pace injured his left ankle in the second half and is a game-time decision for tonight’s game against Georgetown. He practiced minimally Sunday with the ankle wrapped.

Pace may not have been in so much against Pittsburgh had Edelin not struggled. Edelin — who’s taken much of Pace’s playing time since returning — played just six minutes and turned it over three times.

“He could just never get into the flow of the game at all,” Boeheim said. “Some games, that’s going to happen.”

And those games, you’ll see more of Pace.

Bad Knight

For the second time this year, Syracuse contained Brandin Knight, Pittsburgh’s point guard and the Preseason Big East Player of the Year.

Knight, who was questionable because of an ankle injury, played all 40 minutes and scored just seven points. He missed all eight 3-pointers he took.

“He seemed a little bit slow,” Boeheim said. “I think we caught him on a rough night.”

When Syracuse played at Pittsburgh on Jan. 18, Knight struggled, too. In that game — a Pittsburgh win — Knight failed to score in 26 minutes.

This and that

The crowd of 30,303 was the largest on-campus college basketball crowd of the season. … Earlier in the year, Carrier Dome crowds sometimes greeted Craig Forth with boos. Saturday night, he had signs and his own fan club, the Craig Nasty’s. … Syracuse, which ranked top five in the country in scoring earlier this year, had zero fast-break points. … Syracuse has trailed in the second half in six of seven Big East games. It has comeback in four of those.

Published on February 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm