PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Providence men’s basketball coach Tim Welsh was looking to cure the Friars’ recent woes. He found the perfect prescription in a Syracuse offense currently playing about as poorly as possible.

The Orangemen struggled through another putrid offensive performance Saturday afternoon, falling to the Friars, 74-61, in front of 12,993 fans at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

The defeat, Syracuse’s fourth in its past five games, dropped the Orangemen (14-5, 4-4 Big East) into a sixth-place tie in the conference. While three of those losses have come at the hands of ranked opponents, Syracuse has looked lost throughout the stretch. During the slide, SU has suffered both its worst Big East defeat in school history and its lowest point total in the Jim Boeheim era.

‘We’ve struggled at the offensive end (during Big East play), and nothing changed today,’ Boeheim said. ‘We made too many errors. We’ve struggled all year with our offense, and today was no exception.’

No. 23 Providence (15-5, 6-3) entered the game struggling almost as badly, losing its past two games to Seton Hall and Virginia Tech. But Syracuse’s sputtering offense, which has scored an average of 57.2 points in the four losses, made the Friars look fine-tuned.

‘I think every team needs to check themselves this time of year, and I think we certainly needed a check up,’ Welsh said. ‘(Syracuse) isn’t a good team to go against to get healthy, but we came with early fire and good intensity.’

That defensive intensity – and SU’s sloppy execution – resulted in 12 first-half turnovers and a dismal 35.7 first-half field goal percentage. Syracuse’s 3-point shooting, 1-for-7 in the first half, was once again woeful, leaving Providence to concentrate on stopping forward Hakim Warrick.

Even unchallenged Syracuse shots clanged off the rims. The Orangemen made only 5 of 14 free throws, with Warrick making 2 of 7. A late SU run made the final offensive numbers – 41 percent shooting, 6-for-19 on 3-pointers – appear more respectable.

From the start, the Friars played defense as if the Orangemen had only two potential scorers. Providence’s 2-3 zone sagged and collapsed on Warrick, while defenders dashed out toward guard Gerry McNamara whenever he touched the ball.

‘We play against a zone every day in practice,’ Boeheim said. ‘We looked like we’d never played against a zone in the first half.’

PC’s strategy allowed freshman Demetris Nichols to net a career-high 17 points, but SU’s top two offensive options – McNamara and Warrick, who have scored 46 percent of Syracuse’s points this season – combined to shoot 7-for-22, scoring only 19 points. Warrick was held scoreless in the first half.

‘My shots just weren’t falling,’ Warrick said. ‘I missed two easy put-backs. I missed free throws. Nothing was working for me. It was one of those days.’

Blanketing McNamara seemed to be the key to snuffing out SU’s offense. The four SU losses are the only contests in which McNamara – who was hampered by a strained groin in two of the games – has failed to reach double digits.

And while Syracuse doesn’t mind being a team with two primary scorers, its struggles will continue if the main contributors are the still-green Nichols and center Craig Forth, who kept SU in the game with 10 first-half points.

‘We just stuck with the game plan,’ PC point guard Donnie McGrath said. ‘We tried to stay aggressive in the zone, hold Warrick down, and we always knew where McNamara was.’

As the SU offense shot blanks, the Friars shot bull’s eyes. Despite a mediocre game from star forward Ryan Gomes – he turned the ball over seven times and made only 3 of 10 shots – the Friars dominated throughout. Five Providence players scored in double figures, led by McGrath and Marcus Douthit, who each scored 16.

Eight minutes into the game, Providence, led by a pair of strong post moves from Douthit, took control with a 12-1 run, jumping out to a 23-12 lead. Providence coasted until the 12:55 mark in the second half, when a Nichols free throw cut the lead to 43-34.

Then Providence’s shooters put the game away. McGrath and guard Shieku Kabba combined to hit four 3-pointers in five possessions, leading a 12-2 run. After Kabba nailed the fourth, he pranced up the court, his arms rigid at his side, his knees pumping up and down, as Syracuse walked dejectedly toward its bench.

‘We were in the game, but sooner or later, the other team’s going to get going,’ Boeheim said. ‘We left McGrath open a couple times, and he’s going to hit that shot. Then Kabba hits two and that’s the game, basically.’

Published on February 8, 2004 at 12:00 pm