EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Gerry McNamara entered the locker room, fresh from a post-game shower, with a towel draped around his body. He dressed slowly and gingerly. Shorts first, then basketball shorts, then T-shirt. He capped his wardrobe with a hooded sweat shirt, which conveniently hid his face after SU’s latest loss. Most importantly, though, it hid the pain in his eyes.

In reality, the pain was in his left groin, the worst he ever felt, he said. Last night, the Syracuse men’s basketball team lost to Seton Hall, 74-67, at Continental Airlines Arena. But SU’s first loss in 13 games may be overshadowed by McNamara’s injury.

‘Halfway through the first half, something wasn’t right,’ McNamara said. ‘And by the time it was halftime, I could barely move.’

Without its top shooter, Syracuse was flat. But even an uninjured McNamara may not have been able to save the Orangemen. SU (13-2, 3-1 Big East) found itself down 12-0 just four minutes into the game. Syracuse missed its first five shots of the game against Seton Hall’s tough man-to-man defense. The scoreless drought included two air balls – one by forward Josh Pace, the other on a McNamara 3-point attempt. The Seton Hall student section, dubbed, the ‘Sixth Man,’ serenaded the Orangemen with a chant of ‘Air-ball’ each time.

The early offensive futility set the tone for the Orangemen, who failed to make a shot from beyond 15 feet in the entire first half. They were held to only 10 field goals on 37 percent shooting.

‘The difference in the game was the start,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘Seton Hall jumped us and got the lead and we were never really able to recover.’

Syracuse’s lone bright spot in the otherwise sour trip to East Rutherford was forward Hakim Warrick, who scored 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. His 12 first-half points accounted for 48 percent of SU’s total in the first half. His dynamic play came in front of eight NBA scouts, who oohed and ahhed after seemingly every Warrick turnaround.

But without McNamara, he seemed SU’s only option.

‘We’re a different team when Gerry’s not able to do the things he’s able to do,’ Boeheim said.

With about 15 minutes to go in the game, McNamara was escorted to the locker room. Forty seconds later he was back on the bench. Five seconds later he was back in the game.

‘I wasn’t coming out,’ McNamara said. ‘I wasn’t telling (Boeheim) that I was coming out, that (the injury) was bothering me.’

But it was.

McNamara, who was in obvious pain, favored his left leg when as he walked back onto the court. Seton Hall (12-4, 2-2), perhaps taking advantage of his injury, fouled him away from the ball a number of times while McNamara attempted to fight through screens.

Seton Hall’s All-America candidate Andre Barrett picked up two fouls trying to check McNamara within the game’s first 10 minutes and sat the rest of the first half. Seton Hall was whistled for nine first-half fouls, two of which came while trying to guard McNamara before Syracuse even inbounded the ball.

‘Off the ball, that’s just how it is,’ McNamara said. ‘They’re going to hold and (the refs) called it.’

Without McNamara in the game, the Seton Hall defense stayed off the Orangemen for the most part when the ball was on the perimeter. While McNamara was on the bench, Syracuse featured a lineup that consisted of Billy Edelin, Louie McCroskey, Josh Pace, Hakim Warrick and Jeremy McNeil. Entering Tuesday’s game, the group had a combined seven 3-pointers all season compared to McNamara’s 48.

The Orangemen only threatened once. SU scored six consecutive points to begin the second half to close the gap to four, but that’s as close as SU would come.

Syracuse has until Saturday – when it plays Pittsburgh at the Carrier Dome – to recover from the loss. McNamara, meanwhile, has just as much time to recover from his groin injury.

‘Coach knew I wasn’t myself,’ McNamara said. ‘I’ve never felt this much pain. That’s why I’m a little nervous about it.’

Published on January 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm