LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Josh Wright has endured the scrutiny that comes with playing point guard for Jim Boeheim throughout the season. Against Louisville on Saturday night, it was another test for the junior who’s played under the microscope this season.

The Cardinals are known for their full-court pressure, and Wright is SU’s primary ball handler. When asked late last week about playing against UL’s press, Wright said he wasn’t concerned and hinted that his fast-paced game fits well against that defense.

After the game, Wright was pleased with how he handled the press.

‘They were aggressive, but we pretty much handled the pressure throughout the game,’ Wright said. ‘We turned it over, but it wasn’t because of the pressure. It wears you physically as well as mentally, but we got through that easily.’

It came on a poor statistical night for Wright. He was held to five points and two assists with three turnovers in only 22 minutes. Boeheim used him sparingly in the second half, when Wright played only six minutes. Both SU’s big run and Louisville’s big run came with Wright out of the game.

‘We were playing better without him,’ Boeheim said. ‘We had it real good for 10 or 12 minutes. It wasn’t necessarily his play; it was just that Andy (Rautins) got going. We are a little bigger; I thought we really just played well (during SU’s run without Wright). That’s all.’

Turnover tantrum

Syracuse continues to be plagued by poor turnovers. Entering the game, the Orange was averaging 15.8 turnovers per game – third-worst among the 16 Big East teams.

It had 17 turnovers against Louisville, many committed on dangerous passes. Eric Devendorf had five turnovers, and while the number is a bit skewed because he had one pass that slipped through Darryl Watkins’ fingertips, he did commit three turnovers in a two-minute stretch during UL’s run late in the second half.

It raised his average to three turnovers per game this season, and though he’s a potent scorer, SU also relies on him to play point guard when Wright is out of the game.

Early in the season, Boeheim was critical of SU’s high turnover rate. Now, he’s getting used to it.

‘We made some bad turnovers – three or four in the last minutes,’ Boeheim said. ‘But that’s going to happen.’

Short bench woes?

Louisville plays an unusually deep bench. On Saturday, UL head coach Rick Pitino gave 10 different players minutes. Only two played more than 30 minutes and only two played less than 10 minutes.

On the other hand, Syracuse has been forced to play with a small rotation after Mike Jones transferred and Arinze Onuaku’s preseason injury. SU played eight players, but four of them played more than 30 minutes.

An outsider can look at this difference and identify it as a symptom for losing a 14-point lead in the final 9:45. SU’s players, however, don’t see it that way.

‘The whole time they were rotating people in and out, we were still ahead of them,’ SU center Darryl Watkins said.

But the Cardinals do play a fast-paced style, and in those games fatigue can often become a factor for the team with fewer players. SU’s fastest player, Josh Wright, rejects this notion, too.

‘I don’t think that was a big deal,’ Wright said. ‘We’re in pretty good shape. They just found a way to win. More credit to those guys.’

This and that

This is SU’s second two-game losing streak of the season. The other occurred in December, when the Orange lost to Wichita State and Oklahoma State, successively. … Five of SU’s six losses have been by five points or less. All have been by less than 10 points.

Published on January 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm