EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Against Seton Hall, Syracuse’s orange uniforms are red flags. Or better yet, red capes egging, urging and antagonizing bullish center Kelly Whitney to his best performances.

The first time he touched the ball, Whitney, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound center, bowled over Syracuse center Craig Forth and deposited an unopposed lay-up. On the next possession, Whitney converted a short jumper from the top of the paint.

‘Every time, you go hard. It’s go hard, or don’t bother getting dressed,’ Whitney said. ‘Every game in this league is hard. I play physical, that’s the only way I know how to play.’

Two minutes after tip-off, Forth was out of the game and Jeremy McNeil was back in. A few possessions later, Forth played the matador as McNeil returned to the bench. It didn’t matter. Both were more effective on the pine than in the paint.

Sitting shirtless in his dressing stall, Whitney’s biceps bulged with a tattoo displaying a skeleton on his right arm, under which was printed ‘I own this game.’ It would have been more fitting if the Grim Reaper was replaced by a grimacing Otto.

Whitney scored 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in SHU’s 74-67 win. Last year, he torched Syracuse for 20 points in his first meeting and 23 in the second. Whitney, who averages 13.3 points, did further damage by forcing the Orangemen’s interior defenders into foul trouble. Despite the size advantage of Syracuse’s centers – both Forth and McNeil outweigh Whitney – he used his hips to bully the Orangemen around the blocks.

Whitney repeatedly removed Forth and McNeil from his way, shielding them off before receiving crisp passes from Andre Barrett. By the time it came to shooting, all Whitney had to do was turn. Eight of Whitney’s nine field goals were lay-ups or dunks, and he went to the foul line a game-high nine times.

‘We had a couple of defensive breakdowns down low, and Whitney did a nice job,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.

After the game, Whitney was showered with a standing ovation from fans, hugs from his teammates and praise from his head coach, Louis Orr. Whitney and Orr walked off the court together, Orr with his arm wrapped around Whitney’s shoulders and whispering into his ear.

‘We did a great job going inside-out on offense,’ Orr said. ‘We got the ball to Kelly, and Kelly just did his thing. He’s averaged 20 points against them. This is a good game for him to play. He wasn’t just moving around them. He was posting them up.’

Whitney had been seething since a poor game against Boston College last Saturday, when he scored only six points. And as if the sight of Syracuse wasn’t enough, junior Hakim Warrick provided Whitney further motivation.

‘Me and (Hakim), we always have words with each other,’ Whitney said. ‘It’s fun to go at him when he’s going back at me. We’re two of the best forwards in the league. I know if I don’t score every one of my points, my team’s not going to have a chance to win.’

The inability of either center to even slow Whitney forced Boeheim to play freshman Darryl Watkins – who had played in only eight previous games – for eight minutes, many of them while the Orangemen held on to comeback hopes.

And despite Boeheim’s own admissions that Watkins wasn’t ready, he fared as well against Whitney as anyone. After the game, Boeheim said Watkins would receive more playing time, some of which could come at the expense of McNeil.

‘He’s not quite ready,’ Boeheim said. ‘But we weren’t getting much production from Jeremy. We haven’t gotten it all year. … Defensively he’s still struggling to find out what needs to get done. He’s a talented player, but I feel (Watkins) has earned a little bit of an opportunity.’

Published on January 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm