A funny thing happened at Manley Field House last night.

Syracuse played pretty well defensively, allowing only 85 Connecticut points. Meanwhile, the Huskies, well, they were just OK. After all, they did allow Syracuse to bury six first-half three-pointers, a “horrible job” defensively in the eyes of head coach Geno Auriemma.

Yet UConn won by 30.

“I thought in the first half we looked a little slower than them,” Auriemma said.

A little slower getting to Manley, maybe. Understandable though, considering that everywhere Connecticut moves it has to weave its way through an entourage of young girls rivaling that of the Backstreet Boys.

But when the Huskies finally did arrive, it wasn’t very much of a race on the court. Sure, when Julie McBride hit a three-pointer to open the game, perhaps for a minute or two you thought maybe, just maybe, the Orangewomen could stay in this one for a little while.

But back to reality.

UConn struck from all angles. Outside shooting, inside dominance, rebounding, turnovers, the list goes on. The crowd that packed the stands sat on its hands by the start of the second half.

Everyone was impressed, minus Auriemma.

Did the Huskies look good tonight, coach?

“Yeah, yeah, at times.”

At all times?

“It wasn’t one of these games where we just come out and everything works to perfection.”

Right, coach. Your team did miss nearly half of the shots it took in the first half.

What may seem like UConn arrogance is actually a vast difference in the standards against which the Huskies and Orangewomen judge themselves. While Auriemma ho-hummed his way through another victory press conference, Syracuse head coach Marianna Freeman showered her team with praise.

She applauded the effort of her defense, the one that allowed 85 points. She congratulated her team, the one that turned the ball over 18 times, for giving the Huskies a game.

“UConn has been places we’ve never been,” Freeman said.

Very true. UConn has laid claim to the Big East Tournament championship 10 times. It has not only been to the NCAA Tournament every year since 1989, it’s won the championship twice. It has built a program that draws 12,239 fans at home.

Last night Syracuse drew 3,328, a marquee night for a team that averaged just 583 fans coming into the game, fewest in the Big East.

In all fairness, Syracuse couldn’t have won this game if it played flawlessly. The Orangewomen are light years behind UConn in terms of talent.

But that’s not an excuse for a pat on the back and congratulations in the wake of a 30-point loss. Not if you want to play with the best some day. Not if you want to win the Big East Championship. Certainly not if you want to do more than just slip into the field of 64.

After the game, Freeman said UConn and Syracuse respect each other. But Auriemma, when asked if the Syracuse zone defense worked, quipped, “If you call 85 points working.”

Not many coaches would. Neither would many fans.

The scoreboard doesn’t always tell the whole story, but it doesn’t lie either. UConn didn’t humiliate Syracuse the way it has embarrassed so many other opponents, but it did beat the Orangewomen badly on a night when the Huskies were apparently far from perfect. And avoiding humiliation is hardly something to be proud of.

Especially if you want to be where UConn resides.

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Published on February 13, 2002 at 12:00 pm