Syracuse has 32 regular season games, the Big East tournament and presumably the NCAA Tournament to go. It means Wednesday night’s 92-86 preseason win over Bryant University in front of 9,027 at the Carrier Dome was what a preseason game is supposed to be – 40 minutes to evaluate the team in a game situation, one that has no lasting effect on anything tangible.

It was enough time, though, to prove the Orange has work to do before the season starts on Nov. 10.

‘It was a tough night, but it was probably what we needed,’ senior Terrence Roberts said.

‘We all know that if we played any team of any status that is Division I, we’d get clobbered.’

Head coach Jim Boeheim utilized much of his roster, playing nine players in the first 10 minutes alone. He started junior Josh Wright at point guard, along with the four returning starters – the senior front line of Roberts, Darryl Watkins and Demetris Nichols and sophomore guard Eric Devendorf.

Less than four minutes into the game, Boeheim substituted in key senior reserve Matt Gorman and heralded freshman Paul Harris, the latter of whom entered the game to a rabid applause from the Orange’s student section. Sophomore Andy Rautins and freshman Mike Jones also played early and throughout the game. The third freshman, Devin Brennan-McBride, saw action in the second half.

The deep rotations are normal for preseason games. What wasn’t normal was the Orange’s sloppiness. SU committed 24 turnovers, nine more than SU’s 15.2 average from last season.

With only two weeks of practice, the Orange played more man-to-man defense than it usually does but still played poorly. Bryant’s 86 points were 17 more than the 69 points per game SU allowed last season.

The good news was the Orange had its way on offense – even though it didn’t play well there, either.

‘We scored 92 points, but this is probably the worst we’ve played offensively in 20 days,’ Boeheim said.

Entering the game, one of the big questions was who would handle the bulk of the scoring after former SU guard Gerry McNamara’s graduation.

On Wednesday, it was Devendorf.

Devendorf finished with 30 points before fouling out with 5:08 remaining. The production won’t count in his statistics, but it was especially encouraging considering his career high was 22 points at Notre Dame on Jan. 11. The sophomore, who was the top 3-point shooter on the team last season, continued to excel from the perimeter, hitting 6-of-9 3-pointers.

Bryant was playing zone against Syracuse – perfect for Devendorf’s game.

‘Shooting the ball, that’s what I do,’ Devendorf said. ‘When they throw a zone, I can shoot all day.’

Roberts led the Orange inside, finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds. He converted 6-of-9 shots, although he made only four of his 10 free throws and committed seven turnovers.

Nichols dropped 21 points, but missed all but one of his eight 3-pointers.

Overall, SU shot 9-of-30 from 3-point range and 25-of-40 from the free throw line. Neither percentage is near what SU expects for the season.

‘For the first game of the year, those are pretty normal things to have happen,’ Boeheim said.

While Bryant can’t serve as a fair representative for what the Orange will see in the Black Coaches Association Invitational – SU’s first three regular season games from Nov. 10-Nov. 12 in the Carrier Dome – much less the Big East, it was the first look at this season’s squad.

The sneak preview wasn’t pretty, but it was enough to win and give Boeheim an idea of where SU is two weeks into the preseason.

‘We’ve got a lot of work to do on defense,’ Boeheim said. ‘I don’t think our zone is very good right now, so we still have a lot of work to do there. It’s two weeks in.’

Published on November 1, 2006 at 12:00 pm