With much of the week off and hosting Seton Hall – a good, but not a top Big East team – Syracuse had an opportunity to earn a needed win, and perhaps regain the swagger that carried it through December. A loss, though, could mess with a team’s confidence.

After falling to Seton Hall, 68-61, SU suffers its fourth straight loss and it finds itself short on assurance.

‘When you lose three straight games, you lose a little confidence,’ SU coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘And we’ve lost a lot of confidence.’

What a difference two weeks makes. When students arrived back on campus after winter break, SU reveled in a 12-game winning streak and started off 3-0 in the Big East. The 3-pointers were falling and the defense was formidable. Four losses later, panic is starting to fight with confidence.

‘You gotta look up,’ freshman Eric Devendorf said. ‘The tournament is obviously in jeopardy, so if we want to be there, we just gotta do it.’

The Orange still boasts an impressive 15-6 record and four of the losses were to Top 10 teams. But it’s only natural to start worrying when losing to Seton Hall at home. SU has two days to swallow it before hosting Rutgers on Wednesday.

‘Everyone is going to be down, but you have to find within yourself … I know from experience,’ junior guard Louie McCroskey said. ‘I think guys know that it’s a tough loss, but the good thing about it is you always have that next game, and if we make our shots hopefully we’ll be able to get a win.’

Pirates proud

While a lot is made about the strength of the Big East, Seton Hall often goes unrecognized. But the Pirates, who were projected to finish 15 of the Big East’s 16 schools in the preseason, have quietly accumulated an impressive season. They beat No. 15 North Carolina State on Wednesday, and Sunday’s win pushes the Pirates to .500 in the Big East.

‘(The N.C. State win) gave us a lot of confidence,’ Seton Hall senior guard Donald Copeland said. ‘It definitely carried over, because when we were down at halftime, we got a real strong start in the second half, and we knew we could hold onto it. Maybe we’ll get some recognition and start to string on some wins and be one of the teams picked to make the tournament.’

It was clear the Pirates played with a chip on their shoulders. After Gerry McNamara hit a pair of free throws to tie the game, 59-59, Terrence Roberts turned to the Syracuse student section and signaled the fans to cheer louder. The energy in the Carrier Dome deflated, though, when Seton Hall guards Copeland and Jamar Nutter hit long 3-pointers to stretch the lead to six points. Nutter even mocked the Carrier Dome crowd, waving his arms to have the fans be louder after he connected on his trey.

‘The Carrier Dome is the best,’ Nutter said. ‘I already knew the crowd was going to be hostile. I live off that.’

Orr back at SU

Seton Hall head coach Louis Orr, a former Syracuse star for Boeheim and an assistant coach under him, secured his first win against his alma mater in five seasons of coaching (four with the Pirates, one at Siena).

But the SU graduate, who was named to the Orange’s All-Century team, emphasized when he squares off against his former coach, there’s no time to be sentimental.

‘He wants to win,’ Orr said. ‘He doesn’t like to lose. We want to win and we don’t like to lose. We can hug and kiss later … figuratively, not literally.’

This and that

Former Syracuse star John Wallace was in attendance. Wallace played for the Orangemen from 1993-96, leading SU to the Final Four in his senior season. … The Orange donned new white warm-ups on Sunday before the game.

Published on January 29, 2006 at 12:00 pm