After losing four of five games in the Big East, the Syracuse men’s basketball team knew something had to be done. So the Orangemen called a team meeting to straighten out what had been plaguing them.

‘It was a good chance for us to get together,’ guard Gerry McNamara said, ‘bring about memories of last year, what we’re doing this year and what we should be doing.’

It worked. SU fended off Rutgers, 63-61, to put an end to the losing streak.

‘People cried,’ McNamara said. ‘It was emotional. It was productive. It was just such a good day for us.’

Who’s that man?

Jeremy McNeil was back to old form against Rutgers. In fact, his play reminded his coach of his four-point, five-block effort against the Scarlet Knights last year.

‘We watched the tape against Rutgers last year, and (McNeil) literally won the game for us,’ SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘Terrence (Roberts) saw some plays. He said, ‘Who’s that?’ He didn’t know who it was.’

Last night, McNeil, a center, scored six points and had three blocks. He even demonstrated crafty footwork with a hard spin move to the basket, resulting in an easy lay-up.

‘He’s made big plays for us for two or three years,’ Boeheim said. ‘We’ve got to have that from him the rest of the way.’

‘He looked like a ballerina back there,’ center Craig Forth said. ‘Like twinkle toes, jumping through the hoop.’

Twice in a blue moon

For the first time since Jan. 3, Gerry McNamara missed two free throws in a game. McNamara, who converted 86 percent of his free throws coming into the game, was 1 of 3 against RU.

McNamara’s now shooting 85 percent.

‘He’s not perfect,’ guard Josh Pace said. ‘He’s not going to make every free throw. I just told him don’t worry about it, and let’s just go down here and play defense.’

Said McNamara: ‘It’s tough. There’s nothing more I hate than missing a free throw. When someone says something to me it sets me off. That will tell you how I feel about that.’

This and that

The 19,796 fans that attended last night’s game were 13,275 less than the turnout against Rutgers in the Carrier Dome last season. Last year’s crowd of 33,071 was the largest crowd to ever witness a basketball game on campus. … SU is now 9-0 against Rutgers in the Carrier Dome. … Freshman Louie McCroskey only logged five minutes against RU. He has nine combined minutes in the last two games after being SU’s sixth man leading up to the Providence game. … Rutgers star Herve Lamizana wore a red protective sock with ‘GOD,’ scribbled on one side and five names written on the other.

Published on February 10, 2004 at 12:00 pm