Syracuse displayed the final score of last season’s 39-point debacle against DePaul on the board in the locker room Saturday. SU guard Eric Devendorf made sure to give his team a different history lesson at halftime.

‘Don’t make this like the Louisville game,’ he said.

Anybody with the slightest short-term memory would know what happened that night. Syracuse held a 14-point lead on Jan. 27 but managed only one field goal in the game’s final nine minutes, resulting in a five-point loss.

But remembering what happened and preventing the same scenario from repeating itself are two separate issues.

SU displayed what head coach Jim Boeheim called the ‘best on offense we have been all year’ and held a comfortable 16-point lead at halftime. But DePaul crept within three points before the Orange held on for a 75-69 victory in front of 24,638 fans at the Carrier Dome Saturday.

The win snapped SU’s three-game losing streak and improved its Big East record to 5-4 on the season. The victory was also revenge for last year’s performance in which the Blue Demons embarrassed the Orange, 108-69, in Rosemont, Ill.

A late second-half run nearly ruined it for Syracuse on Saturday.

‘We didn’t get any stops and we didn’t get any buckets,’ Devendorf said. ‘We always have to keep that in the back of our mind when have a big lead like this. We always have to tell ourselves the game is never over until it’s over.’

In his first start in 13 games, Devendorf scored a career-high 27 points and went 8-of-16 from the field, 5-of-7 from 3-point. Guard Andy Rautins, coming off the bench, hit 6-of-11 from 3-point range for a career-high 18 points. But when SU saw a potential upset, Devendorf secured the victory with key baskets down the stretch.

At the 7:16 mark, DePaul guard Marcus Heard hit a jumper to bring SU’s lead back to single-digits, 63-54. Blue Demons guard Draelon Burns hit two free throws to bring DePaul within three points at 70-67 with 1:15 left. Burns scored 26 points as DePaul found its hot-shooting hand in the second half by hitting 50 percent of its shots.

But Devendorf sank the game’s final four free-throws to secure the win. The play from Devendorf and Rautins compensated for the rest of SU’s struggles.

Demetris Nichols scored eight points but shot 3-of-10, which is something he blamed on DePaul’s constant double-teams.

SU forwards Terrence Roberts and Darryl Watkins combined for only 13 points and were out-rebounded on the offensive glass.

‘When we win with (Nichols) struggling like that, that’s a heck of a good sign,’ Boeheim said. ‘Terrence and Mookie struggled. It’s a pretty good win even with those guys struggling.’

It’s also a good sign SU started off much better than it did against Notre Dame on Tuesday, even if it faced an inferior opponent. The Orange showed better discipline in the 2-3 zone and held DePaul to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half. SU also jump started its offense by converting 15 points off of the nine turnovers the Orange forced out of DePaul.

But it’s a troubling sign SU couldn’t repeat its successes in the second half. DePaul improved to 50 percent shooting while the Orange dropped from 48.5 percent shooting in the first half to 37.5 percent shooting in the second half. SU went scoreless from the 5:13 mark to the 1:29 mark. Unsurprisingly, Devendorf made lay-ups at those time frames.

Unlike the Louisville game, SU still held the lead, no matter how slim.

‘I don’t think we should’ve let it get to that point,’ Rautins said. ‘But we kept our heads on straight. The past couple games we let it get to us and we got a little bit flustered. Since we’ve been there before, we’ve learned from our mistakes and we were able to put this one away.’

But historical lessons and halftime speeches mean little to Boeheim. He just wants his team to learn how to finish.

‘People always remember that,’ Boeheim said of SU’s loss to DePaul last year. ‘But those things don’t help you win. The only thing that helps you win is to play good basketball.’

Published on February 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm