A lot has changed since Jan. 5, 2002, when the Syracuse men’s basketball team last met Providence. Before Carmelo Anthony had cornrows and Providence forward Ryan Gomes was the sleeper pick for Big East Player of the Year, Syracuse and Providence were mediocre teams. SU was bound for the National Invitational Tournament that season, and the Friars packed it in after an opening-round loss in the Big East Tournament.

But tomorrow, the traces of those middling teams will be gone. No. 23 Providence and No. 18 Syracuse are two of the best teams in the Big East. They square off at noon in the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Despite being eliminated in the postseason NIT second round last season, the Friars were this year’s ‘it’ team in the Big East. Prognosticators promoted them as sleepers. Those around the program knew the Friars were more than that.

It’s safe to say that Providence has ridded itself of the sleeper title. It’s now one of the dominant teams in the Big East. Wins over Alabama, Illinois and, most recently, Connecticut have shown that Providence is deserving of the praise. But losses to Virginia Tech and Rhode Island remind everyone that only two years ago, the Friars finished with a losing record.

‘I doubt they’re a sleeper team,’ SU freshman Louie McCroskey said. ‘We saw what they can do when they beat Connecticut.’

But Providence didn’t just beat Connecticut; the Friars manhandled the Huskies, winning, 66-56, in Hartford, Conn. In that game, Gomes showed just how important he is to the Friars. He totaled 26 points and 12 rebounds, outplaying Player of the Year candidate Emeka Okafor.

‘That says that they’re a good team,’ McCroskey said. ‘But we just have to look at the different matchups. We can’t go in there and say, ‘They beat Connecticut and we lost by 20.”

Indeed, since upsetting then-No. 4 Connecticut almost two weeks ago, the Friars have lost two of three. Wednesday, they were knocked off by Virginia Tech, which was 1-6 in the Big East at the time.

SU (14-4, 4-3 Big East) comes in struggling as well. After reeling off 13 straight wins earlier in the year, the Orangemen have lost three of four, including a 21-point loss to Pittsburgh and the 28-point blowout to UConn on Monday.

The Orangemen have been plagued by poor ball movement in those losses. Against Connecticut, while forward Hakim Warrick dominated against single-coverage, the four other starters would stand and watch. When UConn chose to double Warrick with Okafor, SU couldn’t generate any other significant scoring.

Also against UConn, sophomore Gerry McNamara had one of his worse shooting nights of his career, making only 2 of 17 shots. If the Friars (14-5, 5-3) clamp down on defense against either Warrick or McNamara, having only one offensive threat may not be enough to take down the Friars in Providence.

Both teams match up almost identically size-wise. Each member of the starting five is about the same height. With that the case, the game may come down to rebounding, something the Orangemen lacked intensity doing against UConn and Pittsburgh.

‘We can definitely turn this around,’ Warrick said. ‘We definitely got to get more movement on offense, cut down on the little mistakes and get back on defense.’

Said McCroskey: ‘We have to go in there and do what we didn’t do (Monday).’

Published on February 5, 2004 at 12:00 pm