The Eric Devendorf off-the-bench experiment is over.

After 13 games of coming off the bench, Devendorf was inserted into Syracuse’s starting lineup in the Orange’s 75-69 win over DePaul on Saturday. He quickly made up for lost time.

Devendorf hit a 3-pointer 18 seconds into the game, drawing an ovation from Syracuse fans who spent the better part of one and a half months debating SU’s starting lineup. It started with Paul Harris against Colgate and went with Andy Rautins for the next 12 games.

As it turned out, the benefactors of the switch were both Devendorf and Rautins, who scored 27 and 18 points, respectively. Both were career highs.

‘They had something like 27 points in the first part of the game,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘Both guys adjusted well to it and I thought Eric and Andy just had big games. It was a huge game for them and us.’

The pair combined for 29 points in the first half, including nine 3-pointers. Five came from Devendorf; four came from Rautins. It was as if the DePaul scouting report didn’t even include Rautins, because the Blue Demons left the sophomore wide open.

‘If they’re going to leave me open, I’m coming out firing,’ Rautins said. ‘We’re going to see what we got out there. We’ll try to be patient like we were today, take our open shots and get into our offense.’

Syracuse utilized screens effectively, finding open spots for Rautins. It had 18 assists and was finding open shots. Both Rautins and Devendorf shot 50 percent from the field in the game.

The Orange was especially impressive in transition – it scored 15 first-half points off turnovers.

‘I think we’re a much better team in transition,’ Rautins said. ‘Everybody gets out. Everybody gets excited. Offensively we’re able to get in a good rhythm after some exciting baskets.’

There’s no way of knowing whether the impressive performances were a result of the lineup change. It was the best game of both players’ careers and came at an opportune time. Boeheim informed Devendorf and Rautins of the switch on Friday.

They both accepted it and neither made it an issue.

‘It worked out,’ Devendorf said. ‘It was good today because Andy had some good looks. They were leaving him wide open and he was able to knock them down.’

What made Devendorf and Rautins’ performances that much more important is that they came on an off-night for Demetris Nichols. Nichols scored eight points on 3-of-10 from the field. He’s been the best scorer in the Big East this season and opponents have identified that. DePaul locked him down late in the game and wouldn’t allow SU to get him the ball.

This was part of the reason for DePaul’s late run – the Blue Demons outscored the Orange by 10 points in the second half.

‘When we have a game like that and Demetris struggles, it’s a heck of a good sign,’ Boeheim said. ‘Terrence (Roberts) and Mookie (Darryl Watkins) struggled. It’s a pretty big win when those struggle and we win.’

It all returns to the two sophomores, Devendorf and Rautins. The former returned to the starting lineup; the latter returned to his bench role. But it worked for both players.

When you got two guys like that getting hot on a team, it’s hard to stop it,’ Rautins said. ‘We also got a lot of offensive weapons on the team, too. So once we get rolling like that, we’ll be hard to beat.’

Published on February 4, 2007 at 12:00 pm