Jonny Flynn ambled out of the Carrier Dome tunnel Monday afternoon, about 10 minutes after the rest of his Syracuse teammates had taken the floor for practice.

Five days might have washed away some of the lingering disappointment from Wednesday’s 82-63 loss to Villanova. That Big East tournament defeat consigned the Orange to back-to-back NIT appearances for the second time in Jim Boeheim’s 32 years as Syracuse head coach.

What five days hadn’t been able to fully erase was the lingering soreness in Flynn’s lower back, suffered when the freshman point guard fell awkwardly toward the end of Wednesday’s game.

Flynn was only able to participate in limited fashion at Monday’s workout as Syracuse prepared for its second straight season in the NIT, which starts tonight when the Orange hosts Robert Morris (8 p.m., ESPNU).

SU earned the top seed in its eight-team bracket, and a win would mean a date with the winner of No. 4 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Maryland.

The Orange now must cope not only with the festering disappointment of missing the Tournament, but also with the uncertain health of Flynn.

‘It’s doing alright, it’s still a little sore,’ Flynn said. ‘I’ve been getting a lot of treatment with our trainer, Brad Pike, so hopefully it’ll be ready for tomorrow.’

When asked if Flynn would play, Boeheim merely shrugged his shoulders and responded ‘I don’t know.’

It would be surprising to see Flynn miss tonight’s matchup, considering both Flynn’s importance and how thin the SU bench is already stretched.

Flynn spent the first part of Monday’s practice shooting jump shots at a side basket, while the rest of the guards participated in full speed, light-contact drills. Flynn later was able to work himself into a few other drills.

Any minutes Flynn would miss tonight would fall to Scoop Jardine. The freshman guard is averaging 4.9 points and 2.3 assists in 18.8 minutes per game this year, but is not the ball-handler or floor general that Flynn has become.

Besides dealing with Flynn’s uncertainty, the Orange must also find motivation despite again missing out on the NCAA Tournament. Last year, SU fell in the quarterfinals at Clemson.

‘We’re still down, but we’re basketball players, and we’re going to go out and play the game like it’s any other game,’ sophomore guard Paul Harris said. ‘We still gotta go out there and try to win the whole thing.’

Before that, Syracuse will have to get by the Colonials (26-7, 16-2 Northeastern Conference). And with less than 48 hours between when the Orange learned of its opponent and tonight’s game, there has been little chance to learn much about Robert Morris.

Harris said he had yet to see film on the Colonials, but that the team would meet to watch film tonight. Center Arinze Onuaku admitted he knew nothing about Robert Morris either.

In fact, one of the few who had seen Robert Morris was Flynn, who earlier in the day took in a short session with SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins.

‘They’re a great 3-point shooting team,’ Flynn said. ‘(They’re) a little undersized, but they play really well in their conference, and they’re a real scrappy team.’

Indeed, the Colonials have employed all season a starting lineup that includes four players listed as guards and just one player taller than 6-foot-3 (senior A.J. Jackson is 6-foot-6).

Behind that speedy set, Robert Morris ranked second in the NEC in 3-point percentage (37.4 percent) and 3-pointers per game (8).

The Colonials secured a No. 1 seed in the NEC Tournament with a 16-2 conference record. But a semifinal slip-up to eventual conference champion Mount St. Mary’s means they will settle for a trip to the Dome.

‘Robert Morris is a really good team,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘… Beat Boston College on the road. There really are no bad teams in this tournament. They’re all good teams.’

That small lineup makes Flynn’s presence all the more important. Any minutes he is forced to miss tonight could make SU vulnerable.

‘I’m getting better day by day,’ Flynn said. ‘Hopefully I’ll be ready.’

jsclayto@syr.edu

Published on March 17, 2008 at 12:00 pm