BUFFALO — Déjà vu doom briefly crossed Andy Rautins’ mind. His 2-on-1 alley-oop to Kris Joseph in the second half sailed high. Joseph crashed to the hardwood and lay in a crumpled heap. Like Arinze Onuaku. Eight days ago. 

Rautins ran over — head coach Jim Boehim screaming at him in the background—and grabbed Joseph’s head to get his attention.  

‘Use an expletive in there, but I told him I messed up,’ Rautins said. ‘I immediately knew it was my fault. We just have to be smarter.’ 

Lesson learned. The last thing Rautins wants is another crippling injury.  

For one game, Syracuse easily overcame the injury heard around the world. And in the process, SU hinted that it might roll right long without Onuaku. On Friday night, Syracuse coasted to a 79-56 first-round win over Vermont in front of 18,948 fans at HSBC Arena.  Smaller and faster, Syracuse raced upcourt with abandon. Its quick-trigger shots fell.  

And, oh yeah, Syracuse scored on the aforementioned play. On his way down, Joseph passed the ball to Rick Jackson, who laid it in. It was that kind of night for Syracuse. Playing at a higher gear, SU compensated for Onuaku’s absence. 

‘That’s what it was, we got our transition,’ Rautins said. ‘We have three or four guys that are capable of getting out and running with the ball.’ 

As a result, Syracuse advances to the second round where it faces eighth-seeded Gonzaga at 12:10 p.m. on Sunday. Gonzaga held off a late Florida State surge to win, 67-60. 

Unlike its Big East cohorts, Syracuse didn’t give Vermont life. From the onset, the Orange used its superior speed and size to race to a 35-10 lead. Syracuse totaled 24 assists, and continuously found the open man to break the game open. Syracuse’s balanced scoring — five players scored in double-figures — was too much. Wes Johnson led all scorers with 18, as Jardine added 14.  

The key was swaying defense to offense. Vermont couldn’t keep up. 

‘I just thought our defense was better,’ Boeheim said. ‘And then when our defense is better it picks up our offense and our offense kind of gets us going.’ 

Expect a slightly expanded outside game, players say. With three 3-pointers apiece, Johnson, Rautins and Brandon Triche stretched Vermont’s defense. But nothing radical.  

‘It’s more of the same,’ Triche said. ‘A lot of times in the game, we only have one big man so now it’s just Rick. It’s really similar. There’s going to be a little bit more 3’s taken and probably more shots up by the guards but other than that it’s the same.’ 

More of the same includes some razzle from Syracuse’s other point guard. The Orange’s furious run to the start the game was punctuated by one shirts-and-skins, playground play by Jardine midway through the first half. 

With one dribble under his legs, Scoop Jardine lulled Nick Vier to sleep and then froze the Vermont guard with a second blink-quick crossover. Jardine kissed in a high banker, was fouled and the Orange-embroidered crowd exploded to a ‘Scooooop!’-pitch.  

Jardine made his ensuing free throw to give Syracuse a commanding 35-10 lead.  

‘I think that caught everybody by surprise,’ Jardine said. ‘I got to see it. I’ve got to go back and see that.’ 

From there, Syracuse shifted to autopilot.  

Vermont used a 15-2 run to close SU’s halftime lead to 12. But that’s as close as the Catamounts got. As the second half progressed, free-spirited alley-oops and an assortment of backups spilled onto the court. After a two-game losing streak, the top-seeded Orange got back on track.  

‘We go on runs,’ Triche said. ‘We’re a team that goes on runs. I think it was our defense and rebounding. We rebounding great in that stretch and getting in transition.’ 

This remains a strange sight for Jardine. At times Friday, he glanced around the court, did a double take and asked himself, ‘Is this 2010 or is it 2011?’ All season he has had Onuaku at his disposal underneath. Take that piece away and some things change. DaShonte Riley will see more time, sure. But the Orange will go as far as its six-man core takes it.  

Syracuse’s 270-pound rock is in sweats, rendered to a pseudo-coach role. His future still murky, Onuaku remains ‘doubtful’ for Sunday. For one night, his absence didn’t matter.  

‘It’s big blow to our team,’ Jardine said. ‘He’s one of my best friends on this team. I just want him to go through this whole moment with us but we’ll be fine.’ 

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on March 18, 2010 at 12:00 pm