Related: Boeheim experiments with lineup, plays plenty of bench

Dec. 18 11:16 p.m. — The question had been lingering on every Syracuse fan’s mind, including, as it seemed, SU head coach Jim Boeheim’s 7-year-old daughter, Jamie.

‘How do you think the team is without Eric Devendorf?’ chimed Jamie during Tuesday’s postgame press conference.

That drew a chuckle out of the Orange’s stoic head coach.

‘That’s the best question I’ve had; did your mother give you that question?’ Boeheim said. ‘We’re going to find that out as we go forward. I don’t have the answer.’

For one night at least, against Colgate, Syracuse had its answer. In SU’s first game without its second-leading scorer Devendorf, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Saturday, the Orange frontcourt repeatedly pounded the Raiders defenders around the rim for easy baskets. That formula led Syracuse to an 87-59 rout of its in-state rival before 15,100 fans at the Carrier Dome Tuesday night.

Donte Greene led the way with a career-high 26 points, and Paul Harris and Arinze Onuaku combined for 30 points and 19 rebounds. Freshman Scoop Jardine — who started in Devendorf’s place at shooting guard — finished with four points, five assists and four turnovers.

‘Coach definitely emphasized inside scoring the last couple of days – try and get the high-low,’ Greene said. ‘I tried to show it today, not really banging, but driving to the rack, getting to the bucket, getting the other team in foul trouble, getting to the free-throw line. I’ve been working on that, and it looked pretty good tonight.’

Syracuse outscored Colgate in the paint, 50-22. SU also racked up 21 second-chance points to Colgate’s 13, in large part due to the 6-foot-9 Onuaku’s seven offensive rebounds. The frontcourt’s play helped offset the inexperience of the Orange’s starting lineup, which featured three freshmen for the first time in program history.

Boeheim’s instructions for his team to establish an inside presence were evident early in Tuesday’s contest. The Orange broke the game wide open with an 18-2 run over a seven-minute span to seize a 23-7 lead early in the first half, during which it scored five of its seven baskets inside the paint.

Syracuse held a 15-point lead entering halftime and continued to feed the ball down low to pull away in the second half. Overall, SU scored 25 of its 31 field goals inside the paint.

‘I try to be a presence every game out there, whether it’s scoring, rebounding or blocked shots,’ Onuaku said. ‘I try to let them know that I’m out there.’

Boeheim also praised the way his team buckled down on defense, with Colgate’s 59 points representing the lowest point total of any Syracuse opponent this year.

‘Our defense was a pleasant surprise,’ Boeheim said. ‘We’re not going to score as many points as we were before, so we’ve got to find a way to defend better.’

The Orange frontcourt stepping up on offense wouldn’t hurt, either. SU’s guards had accounted for 41.1 percent of the team’s scoring entering the game, much of it coming from Devendorf’s 17 points per contest, good for second on the team.

SU’s forwards scored 56 of its 87 points Tuesday, representing 64.4 percent of its total. Greene said he didn’t feel any additional pressure to score any more points than usual. Instead, he saw Devendorf’s injury as an opportunity for him to step up and show the team he’s capable of even more.

‘That’s why I came here,’ Greene said. ‘I wanted to come in and be the man.’

Greene also said he has plenty of faith in Onuaku, who now has topped the 17-point mark three times in his last six games. The sophomore center racked up 19 points on East Tennessee State on Saturday.

‘Once Arinze gets the ball and starts to work, it’s going to be alright,’ Greene said. ‘We’ll try to give him the ball as much as we can and get in there and work.’

Published on December 29, 2007 at 12:00 pm