SOUTH BEND, Ind. – During his 12-game suspension last season, Billy Edelin found comfort in calling some of the players he became tight with in high school. One of those players was Chris Thomas, now a star junior point guard on the Notre Dame men’s basketball team.

When the two met on the court for the first time in college, Thomas told Edelin, ‘Glad to have you back.’

Now, Thomas probably wishes Edelin stayed on the sideline. In a duel of two of the Big East’s best point guards, Edelin dominated Thomas to lead Syracuse to an 81-70 win at the Joyce Center on Saturday night.

Syracuse (13-1, 3-0 Big East) won its 13th straight game behind Edelin’s 15 second-half points, a smothering defense and a balanced attack that included 17 points from Edelin and Gerry McNamara and a game-high 19 from Hakim Warrick.

‘They’re just too good,’ Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. ‘I think they’re that much better than us right now. They’re a measuring stick program in the Big East. We’re not in their territory right now.’

Edelin’s lopsided matchup with Thomas highlighted the discrepancy Brey saw. While Edelin scored 10 points in the final 10 minutes, Thomas shot 5 of 18 for the game and committed four turnovers.

‘Edelin was killin’ Chris Thomas, posting him up,’ SU freshman Louie McCroskey said. ‘It’s tough when you try to guard somebody and you’re doing everything you can and it’s not working.’

For Thomas, that was clearly the case. The 6-foot-4 Edelin used his three-inch advantage over Thomas by posting him up. At other times, including once when he drove the length of the court with Thomas on his hip, Edelin gashed his way to the hoop by Thomas for a trademark floater.

While he drove around, past and through Thomas, Edelin held Notre Dame’s best player to 13 points, seven under his average. Trying to handle Edelin in the post wore out Thomas, who weighs only 185 pounds, 20 less than Edelin.

‘If you’re having to guard a guard who’s backing you down in the post the whole time, that’s different,’ Brey said. ‘We don’t guard guards like that. You’re blocking out a bigger, stronger guy.’

In the second half, it seemed Edelin abused Thomas in every way imaginable. With 10 minutes left, Edelin, under Notre Dame’s basket, inbounded the ball off Thomas’ back, grabbed the ball and laid it in. The play sparked a 15-4 SU run that made the score 73-57 with five minutes left.

‘I remember when Scottie Pippen did that,’ Edelin said. ‘It was really just instincts.’

Edelin revealed another instinct Saturday: playing well at Notre Dame. Last year, he scored 26 points in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus.

‘Maybe it’s because (Edelin and McNamara) are both big Notre Dame football fans,’ Warrick said.

‘He’s a tough matchup for us because of the size of our guards,’ Brey said. ‘He’s so powerful. He’s just physical, and he’s an unorthodox guard because he’s five feet from the bucket the whole time.’

After dominating with the zone against Missouri last Monday, SU showed it can play man-to-man just as well. After Notre Dame nailed four straight 3-pointers to start the second half – including a pair by Thomas – SU head coach Jim Boeheim canned the 2-3 zone and switched to man. The change allowed the Orangemen to better challenge Irish shooters and to score some easy baskets in transition.

Ending the game with fast breaks fit perfectly for Syracuse. After two quality road wins, it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

‘We had to go man-to-man,’ Boeheim said. ‘We did not do too well in the first half. We had to go back to zone. In the second half, we went back to man and stayed in it most of the half. That was the difference in the ball game.’

Published on January 19, 2004 at 12:00 pm