The motion Jeremy McNeil makes when he swings his right arm forward in an apparent attempt to swat the basketball into the fifth row can only be described one way.

‘Oh it’s violent,’ Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. ‘It’s violent and it’s hard. It’s very hard.’

‘When I block a shot,’ McNeil said, ‘it’s like, ‘OK, I’m ready.’ That and when I dunk.’

But after a violent block, McNeil turns surprisingly docile. The big man flashes an innocent smile after a job well done.

‘He just gets the big smile,’ forward Hakim Warrick said, ‘and he starts having fun out there.’

Last night, in Syracuse’s 98-68 win over Colgate at the Carrier Dome, McNeil had plenty of reason to show his boyish grin. He blocked six Raider shots while playing 22 minutes, including most of the second half.

Playing against a relatively small Colgate lineup — starting center Andrew Zidar is 6 feet, 8 inches — McNeil allowed Raider forwards to catch the ball in the paint but then threw it back in their faces when they attempted layups.

‘What I’m concerned about is, against bigger guys, he can’t let them catch the ball,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘Against these guys, he could let them catch the ball and still block the shot.’

‘I don’t know how many blocks he had,’ Warrick said, ‘but they started second-guessing coming in the hole after he got his first couple of blocks.’

McNeil’s first fierce block came late in the first half. When 6-foot-1 Colgate guard Alvin Reed attempted a layup, McNeil whacked the ball out of bounds toward the SU student section.

Craig Forth started the second half at center, but McNeil checked in four minutes later. He got a piece of a Zidar putback soon after and then swatted him again on the next Colgate possession.

‘McNeil likes to block everything,’ Zidar said, ‘so we just wanted to get off the ground.’

McNeil took to the air later in the second half. He became a rebounding force and converted several two-handed dunks that roused the announced crowd of 15,615. He finished with 12 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting.

***

No show

Syracuse point guard Billy Edelin, who is serving an NCAA-imposed 12-game suspension for playing in an unsanctioned recreational league last winter, was not on the SU bench during the game. He also missed practice Monday.

According to the terms of Edelin’s suspension, he is allowed to practice with the team and sit on the bench during games. He was on the bench during Syracuse’s home opener against Valparaiso on Nov. 24.

Teammates Carmelo Anthony and Warrick said Edelin did not attend because he was busy with extra-credit school work.

***

Walk on

With his team ahead by nearly 30 points, Boeheim decided to throw Colgate a different look late in the second half.

Actually, he threw the crowd a new look, too, considering not one of the five SU players on the court when time expired had appeared in a regular-season game this season.

With 1:31 remaining, Boeheim sent Josh Brooks and Gary Hall onto the court to play with Ronneil Herron, Andrew Kouwe and Tyrone Albright. The all-walk-on lineup managed a point — Herron converted a free throw — while holding the Raiders scoreless.

In fact, Syracuse held Colgate scoreless for the final six minutes. For 3:14 of that time, at least one walk-on was in the game.

‘I guess they did a pretty good job,’ senior Kueth Duany said.

‘It was exciting,’ Warrick said. ‘Especially since Kouwe is one of my roommates. Seeing him out there, it’s just great. I’m just waiting for them to score some baskets.’

They almost did. After Albright created a turnover, he and Herron came in two-on-one, but both missed layups.

‘They were a little nervous out there,’ Warrick said. ‘They come into practice, and they give us a run sometimes. We know they can play.’

***

This and that

Although Syracuse shot 62.5 percent from the free-throw line, including 50 percent (7 of 14) in the first half, Boeheim seemed unconcerned. ‘Overall, I don’t think we’ve been a bad free throw shooting team. We’re not going to be an 80-percent free-throw shooting team, but we’ll be all right.’ Anthony, who led the Orangemen with 27 points, finished 5 of 9 from the charity stripe. … With last night’s win, Syracuse pushed its winning streak against Colgate to 37 games. The teams have met 155 times, with Syracuse holding a 110-45 advantage. The Raiders last topped the Orangemen in 1962, winning, 67-63. … SU outrebounded Colgate, 43-40. Anthony led all rebounders with 11. … Freshman Matt Gorman, who didn’t play Nov. 24 against Valparaiso, played 12 minutes and had two points last night. … With 11:54 remaining in the first half, all fans sitting in the upper deck were invited to move down to the lower level to fill the numerous empty seats. On nights when attendance is sparse this season, SU will make similar accommodations, said Michael Veley, Syracuse’s associate athletics director for external affairs. ‘We have to be sensitive to the people who paid a lot to sit down here,’ Veley said, ‘but I saw a lot of season ticket holders applauding when the announcement was made.’

Published on December 3, 2002 at 12:00 pm