Continuously throughout this season, Quentin Hillsman has stressed the importance of winning conference home games. Hillsman, Syracuse’s fourth-year head coach, realizes how tough it is to win on the road in the Big East.

After a heart-wrenching 68-65 home loss to St. John’s Wednesday, SU (16-4, 3-4 Big East) is starving for a Big East win more so now than at any time thus far this season. More than that, however, the Orange is in dire need of a conference victory at home.

Things don’t get any easier for SU this weekend as the No. 3 team in the nation, Notre Dame (18-1, 5-1 Big East), comes to the Carrier Dome to face the Orange Saturday at 1 p.m.

‘It hurts,’ SU forward Tyler Ash said of the Orange’s loss to the Red Storm Wednesday. ‘But we got 10 more games to play. We got to look to win Saturday.’

A victory over the Fighting Irish will be very difficult to come by. Notre Dame has reeled off three straight wins since a 70-46 trouncing at the hands of No. 1 Connecticut in a game that was showcased on ESPN’s weekly college basketball preview show, ‘College GameDay.’

The three wins have allowed Notre Dame to lay claim as the unquestioned No. 2 team in the Big East behind the Huskies. Notre Dame’s victories over Louisville, No. 16 West Virginia and Providence have come by a combined margin of 51 points. In comparison, Syracuse went 1-1 on a road trip to Providence and Louisville last week (losing to the Friars and defeating the Cardinals). SU will play the Mountaineers on Senior Night at the Carrier Dome March 1.

Even after the defeat Wednesday, Hillsman is not completely down and out on the Orange’s ultimate Big East fate. In his team’s eyes, there is a great deal of basketball left to be played. And until it is all said and done, there is room for his team to grow.

‘See, that’s the thing, we have 10 more games,’ Hillsman said. ‘We got a lot of games left. If we win Saturday we are right back where we need to be.’

Asking for his team to get that elusive home conference win over Notre Dame, however, may be asking too much. The Fighting Irish have only lost one game on the year, to a Connecticut team in the midst of an unearthly 59 game-winning streak. When it comes to common opponents SU and Notre Dame have played this year, Saturday’s game forecast doesn’t look good for the Orange.

The Irish demolished South Florida by 17 points, a team Syracuse lost to by nine. Notre Dame also defeated Providence, another team Syracuse lost to, by another double-digit margin (25).

Those numbers aren’t forcing Hillsman to retract the confidence he has in his team. Heading into Saturday, he feels that even with the recent losses, SU will be able to play its most loose game of the season. Because Notre Dame has the national ranking. His squad doesn’t.

‘No. No pressure,’ Hillsman said of the game against Notre Dame. ‘I don’t feel like there will be any pressure. We will play as hard as we can. They are a great team. The pressure is on Notre Dame; they are the No. 3 team in the country. We don’t have any pressure. All the pressure is on Notre Dame.’

But just like those numbers of the national ranking Notre Dame has and Syracuse lacks, the facts regarding Syracuse’s ineptitude to win Big East games at home this year don’t lie as well. SU is 1-2 in three Big East home games after completing a perfect non-conference slate at home, 10-0.

For Ash and the rest of the team, they say those statistics don’t matter. It’s about each individual game.

Perhaps that is just the mindset Syracuse needs versus the highly favored Fighting Irish. Like Hillsman said, as opposed to the St. John’s game, SU has nothing to lose.

Said Ash: ‘No (tears in the locker room after the loss). Everyone is just a little sad. But it’s OK. Forget this one. Take it game by game.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on January 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm