NEWARK, N.J. — The largest deficit the Syracuse men’s basketball team had faced all season was a mere five points against California on Nov. 19. That was until Tuesday night.

In front of a record crowd at the Prudential Center, the Orange found itself down 12 points to Seton Hall in its first true road game of the season. A 12-0 start to the season was in jeopardy of becoming overshadowed by a 0-1 start to conference play.

When the final buzzer sounded, though, the deficit was a distant memory. Syracuse had withstood Seton Hall’s toughest blows, mainly from the long-range shooting of Jeremy Hazell. When smoke cleared, the Orange remained unbeaten.

No. 5 Syracuse overcame the 12-point deficit – its biggest of the season – to pull out a win in its Big East opener, 80-73, over Seton Hall Tuesday night in front of a crowd of 9,800 at the Prudential Center. Strong performances by Wesley Johnson (20 points, 19 rebounds) and Kris Joseph (16 points) propelled the Orange in its comeback victory.

‘It shows a lot of character to play this bad against a good team like Seton Hall on the road and come out on top with a win,’ senior guard Andy Rautins said. ‘It says a lot about this team and how we preserved. We fought through even though we beat ourselves tonight.’

Seton Hall’s 12-point lead came with 4:35 to go in the first half after a 3-point shot by Hazell, who led all scorers with 38 points. Syracuse trailed 41-29 and was in the midst of some of its sloppiest play this season. SU turned the ball over 11 times in the first half, with most of the turnovers stemming from errant passes, leading to easy lay-ups in transition for the Pirates.

The Orange had never been in this situation before. Sure, North Carolina and Florida were tough opponents, but SU (13-0, 1-0) had never trailed by double-digits. Seton Hall had the momentum and was starting to find its groove offensively. The prospects were looking bleak as the crowd roared.

‘I think this is the most adversity we have faced all season,’ Joseph said. ‘But that’s the Big East. No team is going to lie down on their backs for us just because we’re ranked number five in the country. Every team is going to come at us hard and we’re going to have to fight back.’

But Syracuse didn’t break. Each time Seton Hall knocked Syracuse down, the Orange bounced right back. SU ended the half on a 14-2 run to head into the break tied at 42. Three lay-ups by Scoop Jardine, coming off the bench, played a key role in breaking the deadlock. What had seemed like a great accomplishment by the Pirates meant nothing after 20 minutes.

The Orange would find itself again down 57-51 in the second half with 12:56 left, but again calmly chipped away at the lead, this time helped by great play by Johnson and Joseph.

Johnson showed the player-of-the-year characteristics he’s flashed all season by blocking shots on the defensive end and scooping up offensive rebounds and scoring easy putbacks as the Orange used a 15-0 run to take a 66-57 lead.

Joseph, meanwhile, got it all done on the offensive end of the floor. He played to his strengths by cutting to the basket and slamming home several strong buckets, two of which changed the course of the game.

After a missed 3-pointer by Jamel Jackson, Rick Jackson grabbed a rebound and found Joseph streaking down the court. The sophomore forward slammed home a dunk to give Syracuse a 59-57 lead with 9:23 remaining that the Orange never relinquished.

Later, with 28 seconds remaining and Syracuse nursing a 73-70 lead, Joseph again streaked toward the basket and caught an inbounds pass from Johnson for an easy lay-up that all but ended the game.

Joseph and Johnson combined to score 23 straight points for the Orange before Brandon Triche’s free throw with 1:05 left ended that streak.

‘(This game is) just about you got to make plays,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘And tonight Kris Joseph made some big plays and Wesley made some big plays for us at the end of the game and that’s why we won the game.’

It wasn’t the easiest of wins, nor the cleanest. It was a Big East win in a road game against a gritty team. The type of team Boeheim hopes SU is ready for many more times this year.

‘In this league, every night is like this,’ Boeheim said. ‘We played so well this year and we haven’t been in a lot of these games. The only close game we were in this year we lost, so we haven’t had much experience in these games and I thought we were tough down the stretch when we had to be and that was a good sign.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on January 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm