MILWAUKEE, Wis.-Both Syracuse and No. 15 Marquette played Sunday night’s game as if they each wanted to drop to 0-2 in the Big East.

The Orange committed 20 turnovers, shot 60 percent from the free throw line and hit a season-low three 3-pointers. The Golden Eagles gave the ball away 23 times, shot 40 percent from the stripe and connected on only four from the arc.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim brought up Al McGuire, the coach who led Marquette to its only national title in 1977, in his opening statement: ‘I think he would’ve liked the defense, but not everything else.’

Eventually, it was the Orange who made the shots and free throws down the stretch for an important 70-58 win in front of 18,458 at the Bradley Center. Syracuse avoided its first 0-2 start in the conference since 1998-99 with its first win over a ranked opponent this year.

After David Cubillan tied it for Marquette at 55-55 on a 3-pointer with less than five minutes remaining, Syracuse followed with a decisive 15-3 run to end the game. The key baskets were a Demetris Nichols step-back 3-pointer for a 59-55 lead and a Josh Wright fast-break lay-up off a turnover for a 62-56 advantage.

Then the Orange, which held a narrow lead for much of the second half, actually salted away matters from the charity stripe. Terrence Roberts, a 42 percent shooter who Boeheim joked couldn’t even make a free throw in practice, even made both of his attempts.

An active 2-3 zone forced Marquette (13-4, 0-2 Big East), which shot 38 percent for the game, to miss 12 of its last 13 shots as it tried to come back. Syracuse held Eagles’ leading scorer Dominic James to six points on 3-of-12 from the field.

Eric Devendorf overcame seven turnovers to lead the Orange (12-4, 1-1) in scoring for the second straight game with 20 points off the bench. Multiple times in the second half the SU offense consisted of No. 23 driving to the basket, almost always resulting basket or a fast-break the other way.

‘If that’s what Coach wants, always I’m willing to attack the basket,’ Devendorf said. ‘When I get a defense 1-on-1, it’s tough to stop me going to the basket.’

Even though the sophomore guard played 37 minutes, Devendorf continued to accept his role as a substitute, saying he’ll play according to Boeheim’s wishes. His off-balance, twisted left-handed lay-ups kept Syracuse in front by several points for much of the final 20 minutes. During one stretch midway through he scored six of SU’s eight points on lay-ups.

Andy Rautins played only seven minutes and failed to score for the first time since earning a starting job.

Nichols played sporadically for the second game in a row. The senior committed five turnovers and scored 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting, but he did connect on that 3-pointer late.

‘Tonight all my shots rolled in and out; I don’t know what was going on,’ Nichols said, rebuking the notion Big East play will be his downfall for the second straight season. ‘A lot of my shots were wide open. I kept on playing; I had it coming.’

The only other SU player in double figures was center Darryl Watkins with 14. Wright scored nine points and Roberts chipped in with eight. Paul Harris only scored two points in 13 minutes.

Syracuse didn’t hit a non-layup or dunk until less than nine minutes left in the first half on a Nichols’ 3 that tied the game at 17-17. That shot started a 10-0 run that ended with a seven-point lead for SU, its largest until the final minute.

The Eagles eventually gained the halftime lead at 29-28 on a lay-up by James as time expired after a Watkins missed alley-oop triggered a fast break. SU almost led despite committing 12 turnovers and missing all six of its free-throw attempts.

The Orange opened the second half by continuing to go to the hoop. Syracuse never trailed again in the first meeting between the two teams as conference foes after Wright hit a free throw for a 40-39 lead.

Despite the ugly nature of the win, coming away with one win in its first two Big East games could be viewed as a success seeing how they were against the conference’s top two ranked teams. But Boeheim refused to acknowledge the importance of the 12-point win.

‘You have to win your first game in the conference to get your first win,’ Boeheim said. ‘Every game counts just as much – there is not one more important than another. You have to get them at home and away. Every game is tough.’

Published on January 13, 2007 at 12:00 pm