There was a 3-point contest on Wednesday night. Northeastern was up first. Then it was Syracuse.

The Orange won the 3-point shootout, 10-9. SU won the game, 81-58, with its 30 points from beyond the arc. SU shot 10-of-21. Northeastern was 9-of-32 from 3-point range, though the Huskies started off hot.

While Northeastern entered its first game of the season a relative unknown with only four returning contributors and a new coach, SU could be sure the Huskies had shooters as well – it returned two guards who shot better than 40 percent last season.

‘They probably shoot the ball as well open as anyone we’re going to play,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘When we weren’t guarding them, they were shooting 50 percent in the first eight to 10 minutes.’

The Huskies bolted to a 22-7 advantage in the first six minutes, with nine points coming on 3-pointers.

After a Syracuse timeout at the 13:22 mark in the first half, sophomore Andy Rautins nailed a critical 3-pointer. It was the start of a 3-point barrage that, combined with SU’s increased pressure on defense, was the catalyst for the win.

Northeastern played a matchup zone, a defense SU exploited. After a slow start, SU effectively rotated the ball to the wings, utilizing sophomore guards Eric Devendorf and Rautins.

The pair was 5-of-8 from 3-point range in the first half and 7-of-13 overall. The Huskies had trouble rebounding early in the game and would have been in a mismatch down low if they went man-to-man. Boeheim responded by playing Rautins more than he’s played all season – 23 minutes overall, 15 in the first half alone.

‘It’s a shooter’s mentality; you think you’re going to make every shot,’ said Rautins, who scored 13. ‘The shots were falling for me.’

Together, they catapulted SU’s run from 15 down to eight points up in the first half. Devendorf hit a pair of momentum-changing 3-pointers in the first half, both accented by his trademark intimidation.

On one that cut Northeastern’s lead to one point with 3:44 left, Devendorf hit the shot on the left wing and stared down a Huskies defender. On the other, which extended SU’s lead to 39-33 with 1:08 left in the first half, he held his guide hand up – a la former Duke star J.J. Redick – and galloped back to play defense.

Devendorf has always been confident, but now he has more opportunities. For the second time this season, he led the team in shot attempts.

‘I have a little more freedom than last year, and that’s a good thing,’ Devendorf said. ‘You’ve got to be patient, get to the open spots and hit the shots.’

In addition to Devendorf and Rautins, Demetris Nichols and Josh Wright scored from the outside. Wright hit a pair of 3-pointers, while Nichols knocked down one. The balance from beyond the arc is important for SU because the team may accumulate many of its points from there this season.

Although last season’s team had a host of 3-pointer shooters, former guard Gerry McNamara took 308 attempts of the team’s 766 attempts. Nichols shot 201 3-pointers and Devendorf attempted 133. SU was 33.9 percent last season. Through four games this season, SU is 35.9 percent.

‘Last year, we really didn’t show all our players who can shoot the ball,’ Devendorf said. ‘But now Andy, obviously Demetris, myself, Mike Jones. We can shoot the ball, and if we do it consistently every game, we’ll be in good shape.’

Published on November 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm