DEC. 9 — Jim Boeheim gave Matt Gorman and Darryl Watkins a razor-beam glare. The Syracuse head coach couldn’t believe it.

He was hoping Gorman and Watkins could at least contain the paint. But that appeared to be asking too much.

After three Colgate misses, center Peter Minchella snuck in between Gorman and Watkins for the putback. As Boeheim gave his signature glare – the long-gazing stare he often gives players for stupid mistakes – he held up his right index finger forcefully.

‘One guy?!’ Boeheim snarled sarcastically during the timeout with 12:39 left in the first half.

That wasn’t the only episode that frustrated Boeheim. There were plenty of plays that made Boeheim stand up in disbelief despite SU’s 79-52 victory over Colgate in front of 20,645 fans at the Carrier Dome Saturday.

Boeheim repeatedly shuffled between Gorman, Watkins, Terrence Roberts and Paul Harris in the first half. But the different combinations brought the same result. Harris’ two-point showing didn’t give a strong first impression in his first-career start, but Boeheim wanted the freshman to play through his mistakes.

The victory snapped the No. 21 Orange’s (8-2) two-game losing streak, but the defensive problems still remain. The matchup was against an unranked opponent, far different from the games against No. 10 Wichita State and No. 22 Oklahoma State earlier this week. But SU’s performance looked the same.

‘I’ve been talking to them about it for a long two months so I guess talking isn’t working,’ Boeheim said of SU’s rebounding problems. ‘I think sometimes you have to admit we’re not a good rebounding team. There’s some validity to that. There’s no reason we should be (struggling). We worked on rebounding more this year than we ever worked on rebounding.’

Syracuse allowed Colgate to grab 20 offensive rebounds and score 12 lay-ups. Kyle Chones, a 6-foot-5 Raider guard, scored a team-high 18 points, many of them off uncontested drives to the basket.

With exception to those 12 lay-ups, Colgate (4-4) shot 15.1 percent from the field. SU also started the first five minutes of the second half with a 17-3 run and forward Demetris Nichols tied a career-high scoring 28 points, including 24 in the second half off of 11-of-16 in shooting and 6-of-8 from 3-point range. Andy Rautins also hit double-digits with 13 points, also tying a career-high.

Take away those factors and the Orange’s 27-point victory would have been closer because of the poor defensive play inside. Harris, Watkins and Roberts acknowledged that they often think that their height advantage alone will help take care of the rebounds. But that clearly hasn’t been the case.

‘That’s what’s killing us that we think that,’ Roberts said. ‘A lot of times Paul was trying to snatch them and take them from me. There were points in the game where we were having a battle of who would get the most rebounds. We can’t have that mentality. Until we get back to a different mentality, we’re not going to be a good rebounding team.’

But at halftime, Roberts said Boeheim gave the Orange an earful. SU didn’t come out of the locker room until two minutes remained before the second half resumed.

Syracuse stormed out of the locker room with a 17-3 run. Before Nichols ignited SU, Harris said Nichols told him that if the defense held its own, the offense would produce.

‘We screened better and got Demetris open,’ Boeheim said. ‘He got all good shots, all balanced shots. When he gets those, he’s going to make them. He may not make as many as he made tonight, but he’s going to make shots. We did a good job of getting him the ball and looking for him and having him finish.’

But Nichols’ help still does not answer Syracuse’s rebounding troubles. Colgate easily beat Syracuse in the paint on other plays due to sharp backdoor cuts. SU made up for some of those poor plays by blocking eight shots. Against stronger and taller opponents, Watkins knows the Orange won’t be able to depend on swatting the ball. Instead they’ll have to prevent the passes and drives to the inside from happening.

‘We need to improve our rebounding as a team,’ Watkins said. They’re definitely sending more people to the glass. They’re more enthused about getting rebounds than we are.’

Published on December 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm