Last year, the Syracuse men’s basketball team flew through the regular season with panache, winning games with logic-defying comebacks and poise beyond its years.

This year, though, Syracuse has experienced turbulence, losing five of its last eight games. The comebacks that a year ago ignited the Carrier Dome have been absent, and the feel of invincibility the Orangemen built in last season’s NCAA Tournament has melted away.

With only five games left in the regular season, SU is running out of time to recapture both intangibles. Its latest chance comes tomorrow at noon, when Syracuse plays Georgetown at the MCI Center. Point guard Billy Edelin, who has missed three consecutive games with a personal issue, did not practice with SU this week.

Despite the Hoyas’ underachieving 13-9 overall record and 4-7 mark in the Big East, the contest could go a long way in determining SU’s postseason fate.

‘The most important thing is making a run before the tournament,’ SU guard Gerry McNamara said. ‘We did it last year. Hopefully we’ll try to do it again. Going into the Big East tournament, we felt good.’

The key to getting that feeling back will be establishing momentum, another key aspect to SU’s tournament run a year ago. The Orangemen (16-6, 6-5 Big East) won their final seven games last year before the Big East tournament and then beat the Hoyas in their first game of the conference tournament. Though the Orangemen lost to Connecticut in the Big East semifinals, their pre-NCAA Tournament run set them up for their magical traipse to the Final Four.

‘It’s really important to have momentum,’ SU forward Hakim Warrick said. ‘Especially going into the tournament.’

Unlike last year, SU hasn’t yet sewn up its spot in the Big Dance. Syracuse is tied for fifth in the Big East with three other teams – including Seton Hall, which beat the Orangemen to begin their fall into the middle of the conference pack.

A win Saturday wouldn’t just give SU momentum. It would make Syracuse a step closer to stamping its ticket to the NCAA Tournament, something the Orangemen aren’t taking for granted.

‘Sure it’s on my mind,’ McNamara said. ‘But you know, that will take care of itself if we play the brand of basketball that we’re supposed to be playing. You can only coach so much. The coaches have done a great job with us. We just have to carry it out on to the floor. We have to take the blame. We have to come out ready to go every night.’

And McNamara feels that shouldn’t be a problem with the talent SU has on its roster. After Monday’s loss to Notre Dame, McNamara said he felt this year’s team is better than last year’s national champions. After practice yesterday, he explained what he meant.

‘You look, potentialwise, at a Darryl Watkins and see what he does in practice,’ McNamara said. ‘You look at Terrence Roberts and you see how athletic he is, and Louie (McCroskey) and Demetris (Nichols). We lost Kueth (Duany) and Carmelo (Anthony), but we gained four athletic players and a lot of experience. That’s why I see us being a more talented team. I’m not saying we’re a better team, just more talented. Last year we were a better team at this point, and we have to look at that and try to build on what we did last year.’

The Orangemen can start proving that against Georgetown, which SU beat three times last year. Despite its success a year ago, SU is still thankful that center Mike Sweetney now suits up for the NBA’s New York Knicks. Last season, he averaged 30 points against the Orangemen.

‘He was a great player last year,’ Warrick said. ‘I know they’ll really miss a player like that.’

To make up for Sweetney, the Hoyas now use a perimeter-orientated offense, led by Gerald Riley, who averages 18.1 points and shoots 39 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. As a team, GU shoots 36 percent from 3-point range.

‘They do a great job shooting the ball with Riley,’ Warrick said. ‘We definitely have to get out on the shooters.’

If not, Syracuse could continue its skid. No matter the talent level, the Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry always features hotly contested games. The perfect example was last year, when Georgetown, which didn’t make the NCAA Tournament, took the eventual national champions to overtime.

It was a win, like so many last year, that wasn’t pretty and came in an unexpected way. Right now, though, SU would take five more wins just like it.

‘It’s important for us to look at running the table,’ McNamara said. ‘We can’t come out and play flat like we have been. We have to approach every game like we’re going to take a win out of it. You have to go in with a chip on your shoulder every game from now on until March.’

Published on February 19, 2004 at 12:00 pm