NEW ORLEANS — Another top point guard shut down, but once again, no love for Gerry McNamara.

As T.J. Ford sat despondently in the locker room following the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s 95-84 win over Texas on Saturday, the Longhorns’ star guard was asked about McNamara’s defense.

“McNamara?” Ford asked. “What’d he do?”

Turns out he helped negate Ford, holding him to 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting. He also perked the Orangemen’s offense, hitting key 3-pointers on his way to a 19-point outing.

Two and a half months ago, after Syracuse beat Seton Hall, 70-66, McNamara scored 17 and held Pirates guard Andre Barrett to 10. Afterward, Barrett questioned McNamara’s game and suggested he was a one-dimensional talent.

On Saturday, SU guard Josh Pace challenged that notion.

“He did a good job,” Pace said. “He got key steals, and he played within the zone. I’m proud of him.”

For good reason, because McNamara’s controlled defense threw off the Longhorns’ offense. Instead of attacking Ford at the top of the zone, McNamara and SU’s other guards played back, enticing Ford to take perimeter shots instead of driving.

As for McNamara’s offense, Pace said, “He’s been making those tough shots all year long. It’s not something that hasn’t happened before.”

It happened again Saturday, as McNamara sparked Syracuse with his perimeter shooting. Early in the first half, he hit an open 3-pointer that capped an 8-0 run, giving SU a 16-8 advantage. McNamara’s second 3 gave the Orangemen a 21-12 lead, their largest of the first half.

“I was hitting my shots early,” McNamara said. “That kind of got me going. Once I got my shots early, it kind of carried me through the rest of the game.”

Later in the half, McNamara hit a long jumper that looked close to a 3. As the officials checked the replay, chants of “Gerry, Gerry, Gerry” descended from the Louisiana Superdome’s upper deck.

The referees ruled that shot a 2-pointer, but McNamara returned to 3-point range later. He hit one with 10:39 left in the game that put Syracuse ahead, 66-61. It came as part of a 15-3 Syracuse run that ran the Longhorns out of the game.

“Every time he puts three points on the board, it’s a huge boost for the team,” SU center Craig Forth said. “It’s like when Hakim (Warrick) dunks. The energy boost is just amazing.”

Said McNamara: “That’s true because it happened at the right time. A lot of shooters can be that electrifying if they hit their shots at the right time.”

Before Saturday, McNamara’s shooting had trailed off a bit since earlier in the season. Against Auburn and Oklahoma, he made a combined 2 of 10 3-point tries. Saturday, McNamara nailed 3 of 8 and shot 6 of 12 overall.

“(Ford) turned his back a lot on me when I was off the ball,” McNamara said. “I found some open spots, and guys were finding me.”

Defensively, McNamara deserves some credit for the Syracuse 2-3 zone’s recent tenacity. After recording 10 combined steals in his first five postseason games, McNamara has notched nine in his last two.

Free-throw shooting, for McNamara, has remained consistent. He showed that off Saturday by icing the game with four late free throws. Of course, with Pace and Billy Edelin slam dunking in the last 30 seconds, few noticed.

“I don’t worry about that,” McNamara said. “If I were a spectator, I wouldn’t have noticed me, either.”

Published on April 6, 2003 at 12:00 pm