At halftime of Saturday night’s Syracuse-Notre Dame game, Syracuse University head coach Jim Boeheim told Hakim Warrick to be aggressive. He told him to take the ball to the hole. It didn’t matter whether or not he scored, Boeheim said, just get the Irish big men in foul trouble.

As the second half started, Boeheim continued to tell his players that Warrick was the key to victory during timeouts. As the Irish lead increased from three to five, and then to eight, it looked like the Orange would go quietly in front of 33,199 screaming fans.

Then, with about 10 minutes to go, something clicked. Warrick began demanding the ball and commanding more defensive attention. He took the ball right at ND’s Torin Francis and Dennis Latimore, drew the fouls and, oh, he made his dunks.

Warrick scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds in SU’s 60-57 win over Notre Dame on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. But it was his 13 points in an eight-minute stretch that included an 11-0 SU run, which won the game for the Orange.

‘I tried to go out there and attack the basket every time I got the ball,’ Warrick said. ‘I tried to go at the rim and make the refs make a call. You either go and score or get fouled. I think I did that in the last few minutes of the second half.’

The stretch started with 10:01 remaining as Warrick drove to the hoop for a dunk. Numerous times during the run that tied the game at 50, Warrick bullied his way to the basket against beefier players – the price he paid was a bloody nose. Warrick played much of the second half with his nostrils clotted with a makeshift bandage.

Surrendering 30 pounds to Francis and 15 to Latimore, Warrick answered the handful of NBA scouts in attendance – he can play under the boards and create space for his offensive game where there is none.

‘We got the ball to Hak and he went to work with it,’ SU center Craig Forth said.

Warrick pro-hopped, pivoted and just plain leapt over his opponents at times, finishing each play with a dunk, driving the record-setting Dome crowd ablaze.

‘They played Hak man-to-man and he should’ve done what he did in the second half in the first half,’ Boeheim said. ‘Just go to the basket on these guys and make them double team him. That’ll create some offense for other people.’

Warrick’s most impressive play came with 5:55 remaining when he got the ball on the baseline to the right of the hoop and exploded to the basket with a one-handed slam, hanging onto the rim for an extra second to slow his momentum.

That’s not to say Warrick was one dimensional. He hit free throws when the Orange needed them, including four in a row during his 13-point outburst, and created turnovers when Syracuse began to press with less than five minutes left.

‘He catches the ball 18-feet away, spins three times and dunks it,’ SU guard Gerry McNamara said. ‘The distance he can cover with one move is incredible.’

Published on February 6, 2005 at 12:00 pm