PISCATAWAY, N.J.-Andy Rautins could’ve fixated himself on the season-high 23 points he scored, or the career-high nine assists and eight rebounds he accumulated against Rutgers Wednesday night. Instead though, as the shooting guard sat in the locker room after the Orange’s 81-65 triumph, he was focused on his turnover total.

‘It’s pretty cool, but I still had five turnovers and that bugs me seeing that on there,’ Rautins said. ‘That kind of takes away from the good play a little bit.’

The turnovers may have dampened the glamour of his game Wednesday night, but it certainly didn’t stop Rautins from dissecting Rutgers as he propelled No. 5 Syracuse in its victory over the Scarlet Knights Wednesday night at The RAC in Piscataway, N.J. Rautins led the team in scoring and assists, falling just two rebounds short of the team high, as he helped the Orange improve to 16-1 and 3-1 in Big East play.

‘He’s a leader and we expect stuff like that out of him,’ forward Wes Johnson said. ‘He really just stepped up big by making a lot of shots and finding the open guys.’

In front a crowd of 8,085, Rautins displayed in full force the multi-dimensional player (shooter, passer and defender) that he has developed into in his time at Syracuse, not just the ‘shooter’ label that still follows him.

Just two minutes into the game, he showcased the marksman skills. After Rutgers took a 3-0 lead on a 3-pointer by James Beatty, Rautins quickly answered with a 3 from right-center to tie the score up. Rautins was able to find open spots against Rutgers’ zone for most of the night, pulling the trigger at will. He finished the game 4-of-10 from downtown.

But his early 3 meant little compared to two shots that helped subdue Rutgers in the second half. The Scarlet Knights (9-7, 0-4 Big East) started hitting shots it missed in the first half and cut the lead to 50-38, before Rautins hit a 3 to make it 53-38.

The Scarlet Knights responded later by cutting Syracuse’s lead to 53-45 to bring the crowd at The RAC to its feet. With the arena louder, Rautins calmly caught a pass from point guard Scoop Jardine near the 3-point line in the top-right of the arc and nailed a turn-around jumper that elevated Syracuse’s lead back to 10 and helped silence the crowd.

‘(Mike) Rosario started to get a little bit hot and then I just decided I was feeling good too so I might as well pull up,’ Rautins said. ‘It kept our lead pretty substantial. If I’m feeling good like that I won’t hesitate to pull up.’

When he wasn’t shooting, Rautins was a nightmare for Rutgers by consistently finding the open man. Rutgers coach Fred Hill said his defense had to close out hard and high on Rautins and that allowed him to break down the defense off the dribble and find people inside. When he got to the lane, he was able to kick out to open shooters on the wings who banged home 3s. Syracuse had 21 assists as a team.

In one key sequence with Rutgers trying to hold the ball for the last shot in the first half with Syracuse leading 39-23, Rautins stole a pass from Dane Miller and found Brandon Triche for a lay-up with one second left in the half.

‘Andy Rautins is a much better player than shooter and you watch him on film and the one thing I don’t think people give him credit for is he is an outstanding passer,’ Hill said. ‘Especially off the dribble with his left hand. He really sees the floor well and he’s a great passer in traffic.’

Rautins also had five of Syracuse’s 18 steals on the night, a team-high – proof of his and the team’s steady defensive play. Syracuse used its zone to tip errant passes and double-teamed Rutgers players in bad positions in the corner, which often led to a turnover.

The Orange kept Rutgers star Mike Rosario to just three points in the first half (17 for the game), and used its 2-3 zone to keep the Scarlet Knights off-balance for most of the game. Rutgers shot just 8-of-28 in the first half as the Orange built a 23-point lead Rutgers could not overcome.

Hill said he was asked before the game what is the one thing Rutgers had to do to win Wednesday and he said that there isn’t just one thing to do because Syracuse has so many pieces. On this night, it was Rautins’ turn to shine while his co-stars took a backseat.

It’s on nights like these, where he helps Syracuse improve to 2-0 in Big East road games, that Rautins can’t help but disagree when he’s labeled just a shooter.

‘I try to tell them time and again I’m not one dimensional,’ Rautins said. ‘And there it is I guess.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on January 17, 2010 at 12:00 pm