NEW YORK – Never mind a nagging sickness that held him out of two days of practice last week. Or the potential game-tying shot he missed at the end of Saturday’s game against Villanova.

Jonny Flynn put all the negatives of the past three days out of mind, and came to Madison Square Garden Tuesday night looking to put on a show against St. John’s. He did.

The Syracuse point guard scored a game-high 21 points, 13 of which came in a first half when the Orange emphatically pulled away from the Red Storm, en route to an 87-58 win Tuesday night.

‘My father told me, ‘Come down here and put on a show, man,” Flynn said. ”You’re playing in Madison Square Garden, not a lot of people can play there. Just have a story for your kids when you play there.’ I just had to have fun and just do what I do.’

More than his stat line, Flynn’s body language alone showed he was back to his normal self. He saluted the crowd after a fast-break dunk. He posed following a made 3-pointer. He made St. John’s guard Quincy Roberts fall forward with a vicious crossover dribble.

Flynn’s demeanor was in stark departure to Syracuse’s most recent game, an 89-86 loss to Villanova Sunday at the Carrier Dome. Flynn played 34 minutes in that game, but admitted Tuesday he could ‘hardly breathe’ on the court during that contest. He finished with 12 points, tied for his lowest output of the conference season.

‘He was sicker than anyone thought,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He’ll come to practice when he’s sick, but he literally could not get on the practice court for two days. You can’t go into a game without practicing, especially Villanova.’

Flynn ended Saturday’s game by missing a would-be game-tying 3, handing Syracuse its third loss in four games. He admitted the miss weighed on his mind the last couple days, but said he tried his best to move forward and learn from it.

Less than 48 hours later, the dejected Flynn that left the Carrier Dome floor was nowhere to be found. He hit crucial first-half shots – ‘back-breaking kinds of shots,’ Boeheim said – like when he scored five points in 72 seconds midway through the first half, increasing SU’s lead from nine to 14. His 13 first-half points were only five less than St. John’s entire team.

Flynn was back, a point he made obvious to the large Syracuse contingent among the 11,148 in attendance.

‘He told me in the room last night he was feeling better, feeling great,’ Syracuse forward Paul Harris said. ‘Tonight he came out and he showed it. He was feeling good.’

Another reason Flynn was able to relax: Syracuse was breathing easy. The Orange was never challenged by the Red Storm, and much of that was because of Flynn. The point guard cooled down after halftime – he didn’t score until the 9:02 mark of the second half, and filled out his stat sheet during garbage time. But the damage was done with his 6-of-8 first half performance.

In the locker room after the game, a jovial Flynn was happy to recount his favorite moments from the game. The one play that evoked a grin was his crossover dribble of Roberts at the 1:19 mark of the first half. After a fake to the left and a fake to the right, Roberts fell over, anticipating Flynn driving toward the basket.

Flynn pulled up, swished the shot and smiled.

‘I just seen the floor space out, I see the bright lights, I see people in the crowed standing up. Madison Square Garden, New York City,’ Flynn said. ‘I just had to go out there and have fun.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on February 24, 2009 at 12:00 pm