NEW YORK – As Eminem and Dr. Dre’s ‘One Last Time’ blasted through the Madison Square Garden speaker system, Terrence Roberts sat on the SU bench, his warmup suit hood covering his head.

When for the sixth time this season his name was announced with the rest of the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s staring lineup, Roberts popped up from the bench, fists flailing like a heavyweight champion. The hood popped off as Roberts did his best Rocky impression, throwing punches at the air.Fortunately for the Orange, the 6-foot-8 sophomore saved some of that energy for during the game. Roberts scored eight points and grabbed eight boards to lead a ferocious Syracuse rebounding attack.

Syracuse defeated West Virginia, 68-59, Saturday night to win the program’s fourth Big East tournament title. SU outrebounded WVU, 41-23.

‘We’re just demolishing teams on the boards,’ center Craig Forth said.

The big rebounding night maintains a trend that began with Roberts’ first start on Feb. 23 against St. John’s. Since then, only Connecticut outrebounded the Orange in SU’s 88-70 loss on March 5. For the Big East tournament, Syracuse outrebounded its opponents, 134-105. SU also holds a 53-49 advantage on the offensive glass.

For much of the season, rebounding has been a major concern, a weakness that became increasingly apparent as Syracuse struggled down the stretch against bigger, more physical opponents. That earned Syracuse a reputation of playing soft.

Over the last three games, though, SU has erased that image.

‘When we’re rebounding the way we did the last couple of days, it’s definitely tough to beat us,’ forward Hakim Warrick said. ‘We definitely got to keep that up going into the tournament.’

Syracuse’s offensive rebounding has proved particularly important. Warrick grabbed four offensive boards and Roberts added three.

Roberts said he’s worked with former Orange center Roosevelt Bouie to improve his rebounding and recognize how a shooter’s ball comes off the rim.

With 17:58 remaining in the second half, Roberts ferociously threw down a Gerry McNamara 3-point miss, igniting the Garden crowd.

‘That provides a lot of momentum,’ Roberts said. ‘(The other team is) all disoriented at the other end, and we’re even more energized.’

Seizing the moment

Syracuse sophomore Demetris Nichols didn’t want to repeat Friday night’s one-point performance during last night’s Big East tournament championship game against West Virginia.

So when Nichols entered the game with 3:16 remaining in the first half, he made the most of his time. With SU only up two points and in the midst of an offensive lull, the guard received the ball at the top of the key and launched a 15-foot shot. When the ball swished through the net, a load seemed to be lifted off a tentative and sloppy Syracuse team.

Nichols found the ball again in his hands with less than two minutes left and, without hesitation, put up a 3-point shot. His quick five points re-energized the Orange, and led to a 10-point SU lead at halftime.

‘Those shots were huge,’ Pace said. ‘It’s good to get production out of him. We’re gonna need him.’

He cooled considerably in the second half, scoring zero points and taking only one shot. Still, his contributions provided Syracuse a viable second-option from outside.

Nichols played eight minutes last night, and Syracuse expects to have him logging even more minutes in the NCAA tournament to help ease perimeter defense on McNamara.

‘I was really proud of Demetris,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘He looked at that first look, made it, then he got the second one and made it. We know he can shoot the ball. I think that will do a lot for his confidence going on ahead in the tournament.’

All-tournament team

While Warrick earned the David R. Gavitt Trophy for Big East tournament Most Outstanding Player, two of his SU teammates earned Big East Championship All-Tournament Team honors.

Senior Josh Pace and McNamara were both named to the team. McNamara averaged 18.7 points in three games, while Pace averaged 11.7. Warrick led all players with 23 points per game. He also averaged 12 boards.

Joining SU’s three stars on the team were Villanova guard Randy Foye and West Virginia center Kevin Pittsnogle and guard Mike Gansey.

Warrick added the tournament Most Outstanding Player trophy to the Big East Player of the Year trophy he received Tuesday night. When asked about Warrick’s performance, Boeheim had a simple answer.

‘I think he played like the best player in the league,’ Boeheim said.

Orange Packed

After the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the Big East tournament final, many of the West Virginia fans headed for the exits, leaving only the Syracuse faithful. But Madison Square Garden was still more than half full.

Most of the 19,528 in attendance Saturday night rooted for the Orange and at times made the Garden anything but a neutral site. The traditional ‘Let’s Go Orange’ chant could be heard throughout the game, most notably as the clock ticked down toward SU’s first Big East tournament championship since 1992.

‘It’s always great to have fans and they follow us everywhere,’ McNamara said. ‘They didn’t impact the game, though. We wanted it.’

Published on March 19, 2005 at 12:00 pm