Denver – As a Syracuse men’s basketball player, it’s hard to escape Jim Boeheim’s postgame rants.

They’ve centered on the freshmen earlier this year, insisting they’re not ready to compete in the Big East. He’s called out the centers more than once, complaining that they need to be bigger factors offensively. He’s even called out his star, Hakim Warrick, saying he had a poor first half in the NCAA Tournament’s first round.

But one player who has escaped Boeheim’s wrath is Josh Pace, an unassuming junior who’s seen his point production reach the 20s – 22 in a win vs. Michigan State – and the single-digits – three in a blowout loss at Connecticut.

But Boeheim, SU’s coach, never singled him out. Interestingly, Pace may be the most important factor for SU. At halftime of Syracuse’s 72-70 win over Maryland in the NCAA Tournament’s second round, Pace was 0-for-3 from the floor with one point and one assist.

‘That’s when my man Jeremy McNeil told me to be more aggressive,’ Pace said. ‘He said I wasn’t being aggressive. So I just came out in the second half and was being more aggressive, more assertive.’

Not surprisingly, it was McNeil’s biggest contribution of the night. Pace hit 4 of 6 shots in the second half – including six points in the first seven minutes – as SU built a 16-point lead. Pace’s second-half line? Eight points, four rebounds and a steal. That’s just the type of stat line he needs for SU to succeed.

‘Josh is the kind of guy, he’s at his best when his stat line is like 13 points, eight rebounds, five assists, no turnovers and five steals,’ assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. ‘He’s one of the guys who fills up the stat line. He’s disruptive defensively. But when he doesn’t produce, those are the days when you’re saying, ‘Where were ya?”

That day was Thursday, in Syracuse’s 80-75 win over Brigham Young. Pace had perhaps the most non-descript game of his productive season, scoring two points on 1-for-4 shooting, grabbing two boards and causing zero turnovers. This year, he’s averaging 9.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals.

Saturday, he shined. As the Terrapins flocked to double-team Warrick, Pace snuck through the lane and poured in a number of easy buckets.

‘Everybody knows our two main guys are Hakim and Gerry,’ Hopkins said. ‘And everybody else plays off them. If they’re double-teaming, Josh cuts to the basket, gets some lay-ups. He’s shooting 50-some percent from the field. He’s huge. We need that.’

Pace is left-handed, yet he shoots with his left like someone who’s right-handed would. Awkwardly. Uncoordinatedly. Like he’s embarrassed to swish it. He takes more time off the clock after he releases it – his shots sit on the rim, drink a cup of coffee, read the newspaper, clank a few more sides of the rim and finally fall through – than before.

Which isn’t a bad thing – or a relevant thing – as long as it ultimately falls through the hoop.

But Pace needs to do that. Fill up the stat sheet. Disrupt the opposition on defense. Grab loose balls. Help McNamara at the point. And cut across the lane for Warrick.

‘I might have had a low-scoring game (Thursday),’ Pace said, ‘but I’ve been contributing for most of the year to the offense. (Thursday) was maybe a low point, but hopefully we can get it going.’

Pace did just that. He’s SU’s spark.

‘(Coaches) never say we need such-and-such rebounds or points to anybody,’ Pace said. ‘You go out there and play. And if you’re playing hard, I don’t think coach is gonna say anything to anybody. But if you’re out there not doing anything, that’s the issue.’

In Pace’s case, it’s an issue that could knock SU out of the tournament. The player with the eye-sore jumper is that important.

Scott Lieber is an assistant sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear regularly. E-mail him at smlieber@syr.edu.

Published on September 8, 2004 at 12:00 pm