Columbia, Mo. – After he tied the legendary coach, he said the only similarities between himself and John Wooden were that both coach basketball and wear glasses.

Now, though, Syracuse head men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim has surpassed the great UCLA coach with his 665th career victory. And he still has nothing new to say.

‘I feel the same now as I did Saturday,’ Boeheim said. ‘Nothing’s changed.’

Boeheim is now ninth on the active list and 19th on the all-time wins list.

Boeheim tied the record in SU’s 96-73 win over Boston College on Saturday. Next on the list is Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, whom Tigers coach Quinn Snyder worked for as an assistant before coming to Missouri in 1998. Krzyzewski has 674 wins.

Pan Am Payback

If Hakim Warrick held any animosity toward Missouri players Arthur Johnson and Ricky Paulding, he paid them back last night.

Warrick, who scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 40 minutes, was the last person cut from this past summer’s United States Pan American Games team, while Johnson and Paulding both made the squad. Snyder was as an assistant coach for the team.

Warrick said the omission from the team was in the back of his mind during the game.

‘You want to show them that you can do the things they thought you couldn’t do,’ Warrick said. ‘I’m sure it was a tough decision, but I wanted to show him.’

Court time

For so long this season, Syracuse seemed like a six-man team: the five starters – Gerry McNamara, Edelin, Craig Forth, Warrick and Josh Pace – and backup Jeremy McNeil.

But last night, Syracuse expanded its roster, playing freshman Louie McCroskey for 15 minutes, his most minutes since a Dec. 22, 101-63 win over Colgate, when he played 19 minutes.

McCroskey also buried one big 3-pointer with 16:28 left in the game to give SU a six-point lead, 46-40.

‘He played well defensively, but he also hit that big 3 that helped us out,’ Boeheim said. ‘I was hoping he’d hit one. That gave us a good margin there.’

On the road

Last night was SU’s first true road game of the season. Syracuse beat St. Bonaventure, 87-78, on Dec. 3 in Rochester, a neutral site. But last night’s game was the latest SU has ever played its first out-of-state road game in a season.

Some of the players said the conditions wore on them.

‘We started off the game kind of winded,’ Forth said. ‘Two days in the hotel really gets to you.’

During their time in the hotel, Warrick saw previews for last night’s game, psyching him up for the non-conference matchup.

‘I was watching ESPN and I saw it come up,’ Warrick said. ‘People were making a big deal out of it, like we never go out of New York state.’

This and that

After last season’s championship run – which included wins over Oklahoma State, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas – and last night’s win, Syracuse has now won six straight games over Big 12 teams. … When UM guard Jason Conley entered the game with 3:28 left in the first half and guarded Billy Edelin, it was a reunion of old rivals. The two point guards grew up in Silver Springs, Md., but they attended different schools – Edelin at DeMatha and Conley at Montrose Christian. … Syracuse shot 24 for 30 from the free-throw line. Said Boeheim of SU’s foul shooting: ‘I guess it’s better than people thought it was.’ … This was Syracuse’s regular season debut on national TV. ESPN’s Big Monday crew included Steve Lavin and Dave O’Brien.

Published on January 12, 2004 at 12:00 pm