When Demetris Nichols entered the Syracuse-Georgetown game with 11:15 left in the first half on Tuesday, he looked to make an impact. He hoped to regain some of the playing time he lost when he was forced from the starting lineup 10 games earlier.

In his first shot attempt, he made a 3. On GU’s next possession, he almost caused a turnover before losing the ball out of bounds. But on the ensuing SU possession, an ill-advised drive to the hole gave the Hoyas the ball and Nichols got an earful from SU head coach Jim Boeheim.

Seconds later, after only four minutes of playing time – a season low for Nichols – Boeheim sent him to the bench, his home for the rest of the game.

Nichols, who had started 23 of his first 34 games as an Orange, has since watched classmate Louie McCroskey start the last 11 games. And to add injury to insult, Nichols missed three games with a back ailment. Expect McCroskey to remain in the starting lineup when Syracuse faces West Virginia at 2 p.m. at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.‘Demetris has really played well in practice,’ Boeheim said after the game. ‘He’s really been shooting well. But you can’t have a guy play four minutes and turn the ball over three times.’

Nichols’ three turnovers tied his season high, but McCroskey’s emergence might be the bigger reason Nichols hasn’t seen playing time. McCroskey scored nine points against the Hoyas, including a key shot to start overtime which put the Orange up for good en route to its 78-73 win.

‘That was a big basket,’ Boeheim said. ‘Louie and Gerry (McNamara) played great in overtime. There were different guys (making clutch shots) – that’s nice to see.’

Said McNamara: ‘Any time you can get a bucket on the first play of overtime – that’s big.’

McCroskey’s success has been a product of hard work. SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins spends hours each week after regular practice, tutoring McCroskey and Nichols on the nuances of the game. On Thursday, Hopkins helped McCroskey and Nichols after practice to perfect their 3-point strokes.

Since entering the starting lineup, McCroskey is scoring more than seven points per game and is shooting 33 percent from 3-point range (McNamara is shooting slightly less than 35 percent from beyond the arc this season). And like Nichols, he’s long and athletic.

Therefore, if Nichols is going to regain his starting role, he’ll have to earn it. And he can start with the Mountaineers, a team that has lost four of its last five games after opening the season 10-0.

‘(McCroskey’s) in there to be active and make plays,’ McNamara said. ‘That’s why coach put him in the starting lineup.

‘He’s gotta continue to make the team better. If he can do that, we can go far.’

Published on January 20, 2005 at 12:00 pm