PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rick Jackson flashed a grin and chuckled. He distinctly remembered those two shots. The two putback attempts that kept him from scoring the 30 points he yearned for against Providence.

‘I got up there, it came out, got another one up, it came out. (Then) I just gave up, and I said I’ll save that 30-point game for next game.’

A career-high scoring output wasn’t a bad consolation prize, either.

Jackson battered Providence to the tune of 28 points on 13-of-17 shooting, including a team-high nine rebounds in Syracuse’s 99-85 win over the Friars Tuesday night. Jackson’s explosive performance was just the second time in his career he’s hit the 20-point plateau, previously having accomplished the feat against Florida on Dec. 10.

‘They weren’t double-teaming or anything like that, I just got the ball and really just finished,’ Jackson said. ‘I felt they just kept leaving me open in one-on-one opportunities and I had good position on a lot of the shots I took and it turned out good.’

Last time out against Providence, center Arinze Onuaku flexed his muscle against the smaller-sized Friars, bruising them with 20 points and seven rebounds. Jackson, meanwhile, had a quiet six points and six rebounds but also tallied seven assists, the biggest statistic he remembers from the game.

With a distinct size advantage down low – only one Providence starter was taller than 6 feet 6 inches – SU’s plan was to penetrate the 3-2 zone and get the ball to the big men in the post. Syracuse knew it could use its frontcourt to establish position and wanted a repeat performance of Syracuse’s 85-68 win over the Friars on Feb. 2 at the Carrier Dome.

Due to his lack of offensive production in their last matchup, Jackson said he thinks the Friars didn’t believe he wouldn’t hurt them this time around. On the contrary, he issued them a beat-down. While Onuaku initially delivered the jabs to the Friars by scoring eight of the Orange’s first 17 points, Jackson eventually took over as the primary scoring option. He said the Friars started double-teaming Onuaku, which helped open up scoring lanes.

He finished the first half with 11 points but put his stamp on the game early in the second half. With Syracuse trailing 55-47, Jackson scored eight of Syracuse’s next 10 points to give the Orange a lead it would never relinquish. He slammed home a dunk, scored off an offensive rebound twice and added in a layup.

‘Rick was an animal,’ shooting guard Andy Rautins said. ‘Every time you give him the ball down in the post, it’s almost automatic. He’s going to score. He’s really crafty and he’s got a left (hook) down there. He’s pretty awkward with it, and he’s tough to guard for sure. We wanted to look to him as much as possible within the defense, the 3-2.’

Jackson noted how the Friars didn’t switch out of their zone defense to try and put an extra body on him, and he continually backed down his defender until he was just a few feet from the hoop.

His performance reminded teammate Wes Johnson of the 21-point and 11-rebound effort Jackson had in Syracuse’s 85-73 win over Florida, where he almost single-handedly propelled the Orange to victory.

‘I just expect this out of Rick,’ said Johnson, who admitted he tried to get Jackson to 30 points by tipping rebounds to him late in the game. ‘We felt that it was a mismatch down low with the bigs, so we felt like we could exploit it and Rick did a wonderful job of doing that.’

While the game seemed like it would be another huge performance by Onuaku early on, Jackson emerged as the monster this time against the Friars. Providence simply had no answer for him. He found himself in a groove and wanted the ball. He even admitted he was basically begging for it at times.

‘I think I was in a good roll at the time, and I just wanted the ball,’ Jackson said. I think it worked out for the best.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on February 23, 2010 at 12:00 pm