After Monday night’s game, when all anyone wanted to talk about was Cedric Jackson’s miracle three-quarter court buzzer-beater at the end, Jim Boeheim kept returning to the beginning. By that point, the first half seemed like a distant memory to everyone but Syracuse’s head coach.

To Boeheim, Jackson would never have had a chance to even take the shot if only his team had put away Cleveland State when it had the chance – right at the start.

‘You can’t put yourself in these holes and expect to come out of it,’ Boeheim said. ‘That’s just the way it is. We either start playing early or we’re going to have a very difficult time, and that’s the bottom line.’

Despite shooting 52 percent in the first half, the No. 11 Orange went into halftime tied and ultimately fell, 72-69. Syracuse struggled to rebound and consistently committed sloppy turnovers throughout the first 20 minutes, and never established its presence against a smaller and less-athletic Cleveland State squad.

It has become a disturbing pattern: Fall behind early, battle back late. Four times already this season, Syracuse has been behind by at least five points at halftime but managed to come back and win each time. Against Kansas and Virginia, SU had to climb back from an 11-point deficit.

This time, the Orange wasn’t so lucky. And as far as the players were concerned, it was only a matter of time.

‘We’ve said it time and again, and tonight it happened,’ shooting guard Andy Rautins said. ‘That’s the price you pay for not coming out aggressive.’

In his postgame press conference, Boeheim harped on his team’s propensity to start slow but offered no explanation as to why it keeps happening. But point guard Jonny Flynn had a theory.

‘We do this every game, so maybe this is just how we play,’ he said. ‘I can’t put a finger on it, but this is how we play. You all just have to get used to it.’

Bullied by Bullock

One thing did Syracuse did especially well in the first half was hold J’Nathan Bullock, Cleveland State’s best player, completely in check. Bullock, who entered the night leading the Vikings with 13.5 points per game, did not score in the game’s first 20 minutes, missing nine field goals and three free throws.

After halftime, he was an entirely different player.

Bullock shot 8-of-12 from the floor the rest of the way and wound up with a game-high 18 points. Even though he didn’t tally a single point in the first half, Syracuse was unable to extend a lead. At halftime, Vikings’ coach Gary Waters saw that as an encouraging sign.

‘I said you should feel OK because you played a whole first half and J’Nathan hasn’t scored a point,’ Waters said.’

Throughout the entire second half, whenever Syracuse looked like it would take a lead, Bullock came right back with an impressive low-post move and a score.

But he was especially impressive down the stretch, when he went on a personal 5-0 run in 30 seconds that put Cleveland State up five with just 27 seconds left. For a moment, it seemed his 3-pointer to cap the spurt would ice the game for the Vikings.

‘It kept them at bay, because if he doesn’t hit those shots, the game’s over,’ Waters said. ‘It’s literally over.’

Although Bullock is only 6-foot-5 – much smaller than Syracuse’s frontcourt players – he was able to control the paint in the second half. Though he is four inches shorter than SU center Arinze Onuaku, he is quicker and was able to spin and juke around him.

After the game, forward Paul Harris said he should have been more proactive in helping, especially when he saw Bullock start to make his fast first step around Onuaku.

‘A couple times I probably should have came over and helped Arinze out, but I thought they had a shooter on my side so I didn’t leave,’ Harris said. ‘I probably should have double-teamed him.’

Boeheim was especially disgusted in Bullock’s strong play.

‘If we can’t stop a 6-4 guy what are we going to do with [Connecticut center Hasheem] Thabeet, (Pittsburgh forward) Sam Young, [Notre Dame forward Luke] Harangody?’ Boeheim said. ‘We’ve got no chance if we can’t stop a 6-4 guy.’

Glass half empty

Another point of concern for Syracuse Monday night was its rebounding. The Orange allowed 15 offensive rebounds that turned into 15 Viking points. For the game, Cleveland State out-rebounded Syracuse, 34-33.

Perhaps the main reason for why the score was tied at halftime was how well the Vikings played on the glass in the first half. Cleveland State had 11 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes alone against SU’s man-to-man defense. Syracuse had one.

The Orange switched to a 2-3 zone in the second half, but the results remained the same. In the final 3:18, Cleveland State twice ruined strong Syracuse defense by snagging offensive rebounds to reset the shot clock.

‘We had a bigger lineup in there for a lot of the first half and we just didn’t go and get it,’ Boeheim said. ‘I don’t think the effort was there. I don’t think we went after the loose balls. I just don’t think we did.’

Memories of March… in December

Though Syracuse had never played Cleveland State, Monday was not the first time CSU played in the Carrier Dome. In fact, Vikings fans are probably wishing their team played there more often.

Cleveland State last visited the Dome for the 1986 NCAA Tournament and won consecutive games over Indiana and St. Joseph’s as a 14 seed. It was the first time a 14 seed beat a 3 seed, and it was the first time former Hoosiers coach Bob Knight lost in the first round of the Tournament.

The Vikings ultimately fell in the Sweet 16 against Navy. It was Cleveland State’s lone appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

jediamon@syr.edu

Published on December 19, 2008 at 12:00 pm