NEW YORK – Syracuse men’s basketball senior guard Josh Pace scored a season-high 20 points last night at Madison Square Garden, but he didn’t care in the least.

‘That doesn’t matter,’ Pace said. ‘The fact is that we lost.’

Pace also assumed most of the ball-handling duties in the second half and was a major reason why Syracuse held close with Oklahoma State for so long. The Orange lost to the Cowboys, 74-60. Pace consistently made soft floaters over the OSU defense and created scoring opportunities for his teammates. His one-handed, running bucket drew SU to within six with four minutes left. He was fouled but missed the free throw.

‘He had a good game,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘We took advantage of him and he played very well.’

Sophomore Demetris Nichols has started every game for the Orange since last February. At times, his smooth jumper and Hakim Warrick-like athleticism have shown glimpses of a great player.

But after a one-point game against Colgate on Saturday, he was on a short leash against the Cowboys on Tuesday night.

Nichols started, but played only eight first-half minutes. He had two offensive touches, one missed 3 and one turnover.

Contributing to his poor showing was a lingering lower-back injury. Nichols said after the game it bothered him on the offensive end.

‘That’s just something we go through,’ he said. ‘I just need to get better. I just need to work as hard as I can right now.’

Boeheim was unhappy with Nichols’ performance. He took Nichols out of the game at 12:24 of the first half and did not put him back in until the beginning of the second half.

Nichols played only two minutes in the second half.

When asked after the game what Nichols needs to do to right his game, Boeheim responded, simply, ‘Anything.’

The move would have been legal … if Syracuse was playing on a football field. With 14 minutes left in the first half, Warrick tried to gain position offensively by using a swim move to get around an Oklahoma State defender. He was whistled for the foul, his second in a minute and a half.

Heading to the bench with two fouls, Warrick looked to be done for the half, so as not to risk a third before halftime.

Of course, Boeheim inserted Warrick one minute later.

‘He’s a pretty smart player,’ Boeheim said. ‘I wasn’t worried about him (picking up the third foul).’

Warrick tempered his play the rest of the half and didn’t pick up another foul until 16:15 left in the game. He finished with four fouls. Even with Warrick in foul trouble, Syracuse gave way to a more aggressive Oklahoma State squad in the first half. The Cowboys picked up 12 fouls before halftime and finished the game with 21.

Sophomore Terrence Roberts fouled out for the Orange with 4:30 left in the game. Stephen Graham fouled out for the Cowboys.

Dick Vitale, the friend of the late Jim Valvano, spoke at halftime to the Madison Square Garden crowd, urging for donations to the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research. Vitale said more than $40 million has been raised. ‘I know Jimmy will be smiling up in heaven,’ he said. … With 14:50 left in the game, Boeheim experimented with a lineup in which every player was 6 feet 4 inches or taller. It consisted of Billy Edelin, Pace, Roberts, Warrick and Craig Forth. … JamesOn Curry, a former North Carolina basketball recruit, is now playing for the Cowboys. Curry originally signed a letter of intent with the Tar Heels before he was charged with possession of marijuana last February and was released from the commitment. Curry scored nine points. … Boeheim used 10 players against the Cowboys, but three of those players – Josh Wright, Darryl Watkins and Louie McCroskey – played fewer than eight minutes.

Published on December 7, 2004 at 12:00 pm