Andy Rautins doesn’t change his mindset whether he’s knocking down shots or not. But Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim saw a difference in the sophomore guard Monday night: His leg injury didn’t inhibit his shooting as much.

Rautins’ 15-point effort sparked the Orange in the first half when it initially struggled on the shooting end. Rautins complemented Demetris Nichols’ 20 points as SU won 80-64 over San Diego State in the second round of the NIT. All of Rautins’ points all came from 3-point range – he hit 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Although Rautins scored 10 points against South Alabama, it came from 3-of-11 shooting and was overshadowed by Eric Devendorf’s play and Nichols’ breakout performance in the second half.

His effort on Monday broke a minor roadblock where Rautins failed to shoot effectively in the four games since SU hosted Georgetown on Feb 26. Before the South Alabama game, Rautins failed to score in double-digits in the three games that followed the Hoyas matchup.

‘When he gets in good position, I think our guys are looking for him,’ Boeheim said. ‘He got better as he went along. The leg without question cost him. He wasn’t able to jump and move as well as he needs to. I think it’s better now and it showed tonight.’

Rautins’ sank his first 3-pointer at the 14:01 mark and broke an SU scoring drought that lasted three minutes and 41 seconds. His next two 3’s came in response to whenever San Diego State broke a lead.

Though knocking down shots early helps his confidence, he doesn’t feel discouraged when he misses, Rautins said. That’s evidenced by his 2-of-11 effort against Villanova early this month and his performance against South Alabama. Rautins made no reference to what Boeheim saw was a recovered leg. But it didn’t appear to bother him on the floor.

‘I set on my shot,’ Rautins said. ‘Sometimes I’m off-balance. But I stayed in my groove tonight and stayed low. Then I won’t miss shots. They might have been (off-balance before). I don’t miss shots when my feet are set or when I’m on-balance so it’s one of the two.’

With the focus on Devendorf and Nichols, Rautins moved off screens and found himself open on the perimeter untouched.

‘He shot the lights out today,’ Nichols said. ‘When they leave him wide open like that, he’s going to continue to knock the shots down.’

It especially became valuable when Terrence Roberts missed nine minutes of the first half and appeared the Orange wouldn’t depend on its inside presence. Roberts and Watkins combined for only 12 points. Meanwhile, Nichols and Rautins contributed 35. When SU opened up the floor on transition, Rautins could go unnoticed even more.

‘Andy is a shooter,’ SU forward Paul Harris said. ‘He’s the type of person who can miss five and then make his next five. We’ve been telling him to shoot from day one. That’s what he’s been doing.’

Published on March 19, 2007 at 12:00 pm