PHILADELPHIA – Paul Harris played center Saturday afternoon.

Not for very long, but down the stretch of Syracuse’s 102-85 loss to Villanova, the 6-foot-5 small forward was the biggest Orange player on the court.

Syracuse spent the entire game in foul trouble. By the 5:50 mark of the second half, power forwards Rick Jackson and Kristof Ongenaet had both fouled out, leaving the Orange with five healthy scholarship players to try and make an improbable comeback. Center Arinze Onuaku, who has been hampered by a knee injury for three games, played an ineffective 21 minutes and did not appear to be at full strength.

‘A lot of things didn’t go our way today,’ point guard Jonny Flynn said. ‘We got in foul trouble too early. It just wasn’t a good day for us.’

Villanova’ foul situation was just as bad, if not worse. The Wildcats committed 30 fouls in the game to Syracuse’s 24, but only one player – forward Antonio Pena – fouled out. Four others finished the game with four fouls, but Villanova’s depth allowed head coach Jay Wright to utilize his bench and keep his players in the game.

With a thin bench to begin with, the Orange was unable to prevent its players from fouling out.

Early in the first half, one official left the game with an unknown injury, so two referees handled most of the game. Harris said the lack of a third ref may have led to the uncharacteristically high numbers of fouls called in the game.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim, however, wasn’t buying into that theory.

‘They could have called another 25, probably,’ Boeheim said. ‘It was a physical game. There was a foul on every play. … I think their whistles got tired.’

Jackson shines before foul trouble

In what was otherwise an ugly first half for Syracuse, Jackson was the lone bright spot. He finished the game with 12 points and six rebounds in just 16 minutes of action before fouling out with 6:19 remaining.

Before getting into foul trouble, though, Jackson looked sharp. He was the only Orange player to connect on a field goal until the 4:21 mark of the first half, and went into halftime having already tallied all 12 of his points on 5-of-6 shooting and five boards. Jackson committed his fourth foul with more than 19 minutes remaining in the game and sat out most of the second half, leaving Syracuse without an available big man at full strength.

Boeheim attributed the foul trouble to the defensive matchup against smaller, quicker forward Dante Cunningham, who tied a career-high with 31 points Saturday.

‘I think he’s played well. His problem is he’s a center,’ Boeheim said. ‘He had foul problems today trying to guard Cunningham. It’s not a good matchup for him. But he’s played well, and he would have had a really good game today if he hadn’t gotten in foul trouble.’

Rautins speaks about injury

Shooting guard Andy Rautins, who missed Syracuse’s Jan. 28 game against Providence with an ankle injury, said Saturday he is not completely healed.

Rautins scored 12 points Saturday on 4-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-11 from 3-point range. He had spurts of hot shooting, but was otherwise off. In Wednesday’s game against West Virginia, Rautins missed all four shots he took (all 3-pointers) and air-balled the first two.

‘It bothers me a little bit, but I don’t know if it really should affect me,’ Rautins said.

This and that

Syracuse Athletic Director Daryl Gross was at the game behind the Orange bench sitting with Donovan McNabb, former SU star and current Philadelphia Eagles quarterback. … Saturday marked the second of three games Villanova is playing at the Wachovia Center, the home of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. The Wildcats usually play on campus at The Pavilion. … Syracuse walk-ons Brandon Reese and Jake Presutti saw action for the first time since Jan. 17. Both played the final minute with the game already decided.

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on February 8, 2009 at 12:00 pm