Nov. 20, 9:30 p.m. — Thad Matta knows how to succeed with young talent.

Last year, the Ohio State head coach fielded a team that started two freshmen – Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr., the Nos. 1 and 4 picks overall in the 2007 NBA Draft – and utilized two others (David Lighty and Daequan Cook) heavily.

Matta guided that team to a 35-4 record and a spot in the NCAA Championship game, which it lost to Florida, 84-75.

On Wednesday, Matta will get a firsthand look at a Syracuse team that mimics last year’s Buckeyes team in its reliance on freshmen.

The 21st-ranked Orange (3-0) will face its most difficult test of the young season on Wednesday night, when it plays Ohio State (2-0) in the NIT Tip-Off semifinals at 9:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The winner of the game will play the winner of Texas A&M/Washington in the NIT Tip-off championship on Friday at 7 p.m. The losers of the two games will play at 4:30 p.m. in the consolation game.

‘They’re a very talented basketball team,’ Matta said of Syracuse in a teleconference. ‘I think those guys come in, obviously, off to a great start. The young guys can do a few different things. They can obviously score.’

The Orange enters the game with an air of confidence after three solid wins to start the season. Those same players are preaching that the team will need to improve areas of its game, most specifically the defense, if it is to defeat the Buckeyes, an equally young and unproven side that features a highly touted freshman of its own – 7-foot center Kosta Kofous.

Syracuse’s freshmen might not be the type of players as Oden and Conley Jr., but Wednesday’s contest should provide a glimpse into whether Syracuse can come close to the quick development and success last year’s Ohio State exhibited.

‘It’s important to get to New York, and get more important games for these young players to see how they react in those kinds of games,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said after his team’s win over St. Joseph’s. ‘There will be very good teams there. It’ll be a great experience for us.’

The Syracuse freshmen have been an integral part of Syracuse’s success the first week of the season. Forward Donte Greene and guard Jonny Flynn have started all three games for Syracuse, with Greene the team’s leading scorer at 19 points per game. Flynn, meanwhile, scored a freshman-debut record 28 points in his first game and hit a game-winning 3-pointer against St. Joseph’s to book the Orange’s Wednesday date at the Garden.

The result of the contributions of Flynn, Greene and fellow freshmen Rick Jackson and Scoop Jardine is a team in what Boeheim called ‘the best possible position’ after three satisfying wins.

‘Absolutely,’ Greene responded when asked if Syracuse had been tested this season. ‘The analyst on ESPN said it. There’s a thin line between high D-I and mid-majors. It’s so small because everybody’s so talented and you have to be prepared to come out and play hard every game.’

That confidence doesn’t mean the Orange is a polished product quite yet. Boeheim has stressed in press conferences all week the areas his team needs to improve, most specifically consistency on defense. Wednesday night’s showdown should provide a better measure of just how far along the young Syracuse team is.

The values of testing a team early in the season are not lost on Matta. Last year, Ohio State lost two early-season contests against top programs North Carolina and eventual national champion Florida, the latter a 26-point defeat.

Still, Matta found both games to be valuable experiences.

‘Last year, going to Carolina without Oden and building decent-size lead and then squandering the lead, it’s a great teaching tool,’ Matta said. ‘One of the great things for us last year was going to Florida and getting beaten the way we did.

‘You learn different scenarios. You’re thrust in there, playing the best players in the country. It’s nothing but helps you in conference plays. You take the team and see, ‘this is what we have to do differently.”

Matta once again is relying on two freshmen starters, center Kofous, who is averaging 18.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for Ohio State, and guard Jon Diebler. Matta went as far as to call the youthful Syracuse side ‘a lot like us.’

It’s a game that should provide the best glimpse into just how ready either side is for prime time.

‘I wouldn’t necessarily say (we have to) take it to a higher level, you just have to be smarter,’ Greene said. ‘Certain things you can’t get away with playing a high major team … Little things on defense here and there. Offensively, it’s going well though.’

Published on November 23, 2007 at 12:00 pm