After Saturday night’s less-than-stellar 68-55 win over Colgate, Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim heaped praise on Syracuse’s next opponent, Oklahoma State.

And why not?

The Cowboys, ranked No. 5 in this week’s AP Poll, return the core of last season’s Final Four squad, which lost to No. 3 Georgia Tech by just two points. The Cowboys, boasting eight seniors on its 12-man roster, beat Washington State, 81-29, the same day Syracuse struggled to defeat Colgate.

‘We’re going to play a team that’s very good,’ Boeheim said after Saturday night’s game. ‘A veteran, Final Four team that’s very good. We’ll certainly be tested.’ Syracuse observed the way Oklahoma State routed the Cougars on Saturday. They know it’ll be a test when they face Oklahoma State at 9:30 tonight on ESPN in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. The first game pits Memphis and No. 11 Pittsburgh at 7 p.m.

‘It’s going to be a good game,’ senior guard Josh Pace said after Saturday’s game. ‘Oklahoma State beat (Washington State) pretty bad. We know they’re a very athletic team. They’re very aggressive.’

It’s the second trip to the Garden in less than three weeks for the No. 4 Orange. Syracuse played in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic tournament in November and beat then-No. 12 Mississippi State and then-No. 24 Memphis to win the tournament.

But Oklahoma State is a notch above. For anybody who’s questioned how Syracuse stacks up with the rest of college basketball, tonight’s game should provide plenty of answers.

‘I know they’re good,’ Syracuse sophomore forward Terrence Roberts said. ‘They’re probably better than the other two ranked teams we’ve played. They’re a very physical team. It’s going to be a challenge for us.’

The Cowboys are led by seniors John Lucas and Joey Graham. Lucas, a 5-foot-11 point guard, averages 21 points, while Graham, a 6-foot-7 forward, averages 18. Syracuse is the first ranked team Oklahoma State has faced all year.

Syracuse last played Oklahoma State in the second round of the NCAA tournament two years ago in Boston. The Orange defeated the Cowboys, 68-56, on its way to a national title. Syracuse trailed by 17 in the first half before overcoming the deficit in the second half.

The Orange vividly remembers that team and knows that many of the same players are still with the team.

‘They’re going to come out and play aggressive,’ Syracuse senior forward Hakim Warrick said. ‘They have a very similar team from when we played against them in the NCAA tournament two years ago.’

After playing as poorly as it did against Colgate on Saturday, Syracuse knows it’ll have to improve tremendously to win tonight’s matchup of top 10 teams. The last time Syracuse played a regular season game in which both teams were ranked in the top 10 was nearly five years ago against Connecticut on Jan. 24, 2000.

‘Sheesh,’ sophomore center Daryl Watkins said. ‘We just have to work our butts off.’

While Boeheim offered praise for Oklahoma State, he also admitted tonight’s game will provide a comparison for everybody – besides himself – on how Syracuse is playing. He didn’t sound positive.

‘We’ll have some more answers, definitive answers (after tonight),’ Boeheim said. ‘I think I already have them, but for everybody else, they’ll get them Tuesday night.’

Published on December 6, 2004 at 12:00 pm