Seven minutes into the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s 91-66 victory over Providence, the Orange jumped to a comfortable 10-point lead. It looked ready to run away with an easy victory.

At least until the Friars turned to a full-court press.

Similar to the press SU has used this season when trailing, Providence turned to a full-court set, forcing numerous Syracuse turnovers.

It also forced Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim to turn to a smaller lineup. SU started 6-foot-9 Terrence Roberts, 7-foot Craig Forth and 6-foot-8 Hakim Warrick down low.

Boeheim immediately inserted guards Demetris Nichols and Josh Wright.

‘I knew when they went to the pressure, we had to get off the big team quick,’ Boeheim said.

Before Boeheim made the switch, though, the Friars used a 13-4 run to climb within one point, 22-21. Eventually, Syracuse settled in, committing just 15 turnovers.

Providence tried the press again in the second half, but by that time, Boeheim tweaked the lineup and SU’s players adjusted.

‘We knew it was coming, but the timing kind of threw us off,’ sophomore guard Louie McCroskey said. ‘We should’ve expected because they were down by double digits early.’

Boeheim attributed much of the success to Josh Pace’s ball-handling skills. The senior guard has improved his dribbling this season. With Boeheim holding junior guard Billy Edelin from the Orange’s last two games, Pace’s ball-handing role has increased.

‘They were an aggressive team, they always have been,’ Pace said. ‘When somebody presses you, you’ve got to attack them and that’s what we started doing.’

Yesterday’s crowd of 32,804 made sure that Syracuse would have the highest average attendance in the country. The Orange averaged 22,978 fans in the Carrier Dome for its 18 games.

Syracuse edged Kentucky, which is averaging 22,399 fans. But it is mathematically impossible for the Wildcats to pass the Orange, even though UK has one more home game.

‘The people sitting up there in the upper deck, they’re the fans,’ Boeheim said. ‘They’re the people that believe and really love these players. It’s beyond my imagination to even think that people will come, if the game is on television, and sit in that 32,000th seat.’

Along with SU’s three starters honored during Senior Day, Syracuse acknowledged walk-on Xzavier Gaines. Though Gaines is a junior and has one season of eligibility remaining, he decided he won’t play basketball next season, Syracuse Associate Director of Athletic Communications Pete Moore said.

Gaines walked out during Senior Day ceremonies with fellow walk-ons Josh Brooks, Ross DiLiegro, Todd Burach and Logan Gabriel. Brooks, a graduate student, partook in Senior Day ceremonies last season.

Gaines, a former quarterback for the SU football team, previously indicated he’d be interested in playing football next season. Moore said Gaines, who redshirted his freshman year for football and didn’t play basketball last season, has nearly enough credits to graduate. That led to his decision to end his basketball career this season.

At halftime, Syracuse retired the jersey of Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, who played football and basketball at Syracuse. Sidat-Singh, a former black athlete, graduated from Syracuse in 1939. He faced racial discrimination at SU, twice being benched because an opposing team would not compete against a black athlete.

Sidat-Singh’s No. 19 jersey now hangs beside the jerseys of Dave Bing (22), Sherman Douglas (20), Vic Hanson (8) and Pearl Washington (31).

At one point during the game, new SU football coach Greg Robinson was bounced from his courtside seat, which he had found unoccupied, by the rightful owners. They had gone to get beer. … Forth started his 131st consecutive game Saturday, tops in NCAA Division I. … The 32,804 attendance figure was the second highest this season.

Published on February 26, 2005 at 12:00 pm