Hakim Warrick had been scouring the Syracuse basketball record books for some time, trying to find a record within his reach. Points in a game? Forty-seven was too lofty. Rebounds? Thirty-four sure is a lot of boards. So the junior resigned himself to the idea that his name would never grace the record book.

That is until he finally etched his name in it Sunday afternoon.

Warrick led Syracuse past Rhode Island, 69-65, with a team- and career-high 30 points. It was well below the elusive points record, but his afternoon included a remarkable 22 trips to the free-throw line, making 18. It tied the record for free-throw attempts and makes. Warrick now shares the distinction with current Syracuse basketball graduate assistant Allen Griffin, who set the mark in 2001.

‘I was looking in the record book trying to find something that I could break,’ Warrick said. ‘There were so many rebounds it was just ridiculous. And points – it’s just crazy, so I didn’t think I’d ever get in there. And just to get it on that, it wasn’t something that I was planning, but I’ll take it.’

Griffin’s 18-for-22 day from the line came against St. John’s on March 1, 2001. He scored 31 points to help Syracuse win in double overtime, 93-91, at Madison Square Garden in what he called ‘one of the highlights of (his) career’ at SU.

Griffin said he wasn’t sure if Warrick tied the mark, but he knew he was coming close in the second half, especially after Warrick went 9 for 10 in the first half. His 82 percent shooting day from the line bettered the 67 percent he shot all of last year.

‘I was happy that (Warrick) was getting up there,’ Griffin said. ‘I kinda knew the record because I had it, but if he would have broken it, I would have been fine with that.’

Griffin said that he used to call Warrick ‘Hak-a-Shaq’ his freshman year because he missed so many free throws.

‘He wasn’t that good of a free-throw shooter,’ Griffin said. ‘But he worked hard at it, and it’s just paying off now.’

Warrick also added nine rebounds and a career-high four assists on 6-of-15 shooting. His consistent scoring was valuable for SU as it battled back from another slow start.

In practices leading up the game, head coach Jim Boeheim stressed to Warrick to be aggressive and liberal in his shot selection.

‘Hakim is definitely being told by coach to shoot it, shoot it, shoot it,’ center Craig Forth said. ‘He’s NBA material and a heck of a player.’

Boeheim told Warrick in practice that if he got the ball 10 times, to shoot it 10 times in a row if he wanted to. When Rhode Island began to double-team him in the second half, Warrick found open teammates.

During one play in the second half, Warrick took the ball at the high post and began to back down his defender, only to be met with a double-team. From there, he dished it to a wide open Forth underneath for an easy basket instead of forcing a poor shot.

‘Hak made a couple of big, big plays down low, and he made his free throws,’ Boeheim said. ‘We called his play every time. He took over the game. Without him we would have had a 10-point loss. It was all strictly on his shoulders, and he took us home.’

Referees whistled Rhode Island players for so many fouls on Warrick, Rams junior guard Dustin Hellenga wondered if Warrick was getting preferential treatment.

‘Warrick was getting some big-time superstar treatment,’ Hellenga said. ‘We got real sick of seeing him go to the line. They called something every time he touched it.’

Warrick, though, disagreed. He felt that the punishment he took to his wrists, elbows and back were evidence enough.

‘Definitely not,’ Warrick said about Hellenga’s claim. ‘I thought I could have gone to the line a couple of more times. They’re going to try to say stuff like that, but I’m not going to worry about it. I’m just going to keep on playing like I am.’

Published on December 1, 2003 at 12:00 pm