'Schizophrenic' Syracuse getting hot at the right time

	Jerome Dyson and Connecticut ended up with no place to go, while Syracuse's Darryl Watkins (left) and Eric Devendorf may be eyeing a trip to the Big Dance. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
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NEW YORK -- Eric Devendorf admits he's been a little nervous lately about his team's NCAA tournament status.

"It's always in the back of your mind, because you don't want to go to the NIT," said Syracuse's sophomore guard. "It's been on my mind when I go to sleep at night. But I really don't have to worry about it anymore."

Realistically, Devendorf didn't have to worry about it even before his team's 78-65 first-round Big East Tournament win over Connecticut on Wednesday, considering the Orange had won 21 games and gone 10-6 in the Big East. Just in case, however, it was probably a good idea not to slip up against the 12th-seeded, 17-13 Huskies.

The Big East's two reigning powers of the past decade-plus met for here for the third straight year, only this time their game was relegated to opening-act status. Call it Syracuse-UConn Lite.

Yes, Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun struck their familiar poses on the sideline, but that was about the only thing that felt normal about this matchup (thanks in no small part to the Orange's new tight-fitting Nike unis). There were no national title contenders on the Madison Square Garden floor this go-around, just a pair of bubble teams (one of them an NIT bubble team) and if there were any lottery picks roaming the court this year, we probably won't know until 2009.

Even the usually raucous Orange and Huskies fans who traditionally pack the Garden didn't seem quite sure how to conduct themselves, judging by the half-empty upper deck and relatively tame atmosphere.

When all was said and done, however, the Syracuse fans had plenty to cheer about. Following their team's eighth straight victory in this event (having won the past tourney's past two championships), the question is no longer whether the Orange are headed to the Big Dance, but how this ultra-talented squad managed to cause itself suspense in the first place?

There may be no Carmelo Anthony or Hakim Warrick on this team, but the Orange still trot out their usual share of unnaturally long, versatile athletes. It's as if Boeheim grows them on trees in his backyard. Leading the charge Wednesday was 6-8 senior scoring machine Demetris Nichols, who drained 7-of-11 3-pointers en route to 28 points. Devendorf added 19, mostly on slashes to the basket. Senior big men Terrance Roberts and Darryl Watkins combined for 18 rebounds and four blocks.

It was the same type of smooth performance that has become commonplace for Boeheim's team over the past month, having quietly won six of their past seven, the lone defeat a 78-75 nail-biter at Villanova last Saturday. In a Big Monday game last week, the Orange delivered a signature showcase for the NCAA selection committee, downing No. 9 Georgetown 72-58 at the Carrier Dome.

"We've played well at the end of the year," said Boeheim. "Georgetown is one of the hottest teams in the country and we had them down 20. We played as well as we could play. And we should have won at Villanova the other day. We're really playing some good basketball."

So what took them so long?

The Orange, ranked as high as 12th in the country early in the season, fell completely off the national radar following December losses to Wichita State, Oklahoma State and Drexel. Consecutive road losses in mid-January to St. John's and then-struggling Louisville seemed to confirm their fate as an underachieving, NIT-bound team.

But when Syracuse plays the way it did Wednesday -- or the way it did against Georgetown and Villanova -- it's hard to question the Orange's capabilities. Roberts and Watkins can be dominating presences inside and help create open looks for Nichols, Devendorf and unsung shooter Andy Rautins. Devendorf and freshman Paul Harris are deadly on the fast break. And defensively, the Orange have held opponents to 37.3 percent field-goal shooting, third-best nationally.

"We have some of the most talented players in the country on this team," said Devendorf. "Once we get together and gel, we're really tough to beat."

Hmm ... when have we heard that before?

It seems like chemistry has been a lingering issue for Syracuse from almost the moment 'Melo skipped town four years ago. Boeheim's past two teams have been bastions for both exhilaration and frustration. On the one hand, they delivered their Hall of Fame coach his first two Big East tourney titles since 1992, last year's in a dramatic, Gerry McNamara-led four-game upset run. But they also proceeded to flame out in the first round of the NCAAs both seasons, falling to 13th seed Vermont two years ago and 12th-seeded Texas A&M last year.