Syracuse Hits 20 Wins for 33rd Season

TAMPA, Fla. -- When Syracuse reserve guard Brandon Reese crossed mid-court, Coach Jim Boeheim immediately held up his hand. Boeheim was signaling that the Orange already had done enough damage to South Florida and for Reese to let the time expire.

And seconds later, Syracuse's 72-49 victory was official. The final buzzer inside the St. Pete Times Forum sounded -- much to the delight of Syracuse's "visiting" fans that filled up 3/4ths of the arena -- on another Syracuse win and another 20-win season for Boeheim.

"When you first start out, it's cool to win 20 games," Syracuse sophomore guard Brandon Triche told FanHouse. "But as long as (Boeheim's) been doing it, I'm sure his expectations are much higher.

"I'm sure he expects to win 30 games each year. My expectations are to win 30. If we do that, I know for sure we'll have a successful year."

With seven regular season games, plus the Big East and NCAA tournaments remaining, the Orange very well might hit the 30-win plateau. But Saturday afternoon in Tampa was about hitting 20.

Boeheim is in his 35th season at Syracuse. In his 35 seasons, Boeheim has won at least 20 games in a remarkable – and an NCAA Division I record – 33 seasons, three more than Dean Smith did at North Carolina. By comparison, USF, which is playing its 40th season in program history, has a grand total of three 20-win seasons.

"It's still nice to do," Boeheim said about reaching the 20-victory mark. "We're very happy to get there. We like to get there early – which is good."

Boeheim's 849th career victory came easy Saturday. Getting No. 848 was a little bit tougher.

Last month, Boeheim had 847 career victories. The Orange were 18-0 and riding high, ranked No. 3 in the nation. Getting Boeheim another 20-win season was an afterthought.

However, Syracuse's undefeated season was abruptly halted in a 74-66 loss at No. 5 Pittsburgh on Jan. 17.

Then the Orange lost their next game at home to No. 7 Villanova, 83-72. Next came an embarrassing 22-point home loss to Seton Hall 90-68 and then a tough road loss at Marquette 76-70.

In less than two weeks, the Orange's 18-0 season quickly turned into 18-4.

Next up was a trip to No. 6 UConn with the reality that another loss would result in the first five-game losing streak in Boeheim's career.

However, the Orange persevered and upset the Huskies 66-58. Then they followed that up with Saturday's impressive blowout against USF.

Syracuse junior guard Scoop Jardine said the 17th-ranked Orange (20-4) will benefit from that four-game skid.

"It definitely helps," Jardine said. "We hit rock bottom. We had to fight our way out of it. We did it as a team and we kept believing in ourselves.

"Stuff like that can help you for months. A lot of teams have a great year and get in the tournament and collapse. This year, we had success early, we lost some games, but we got back to where we need to be. Plus we found ourselves and who we need to be as a team. We found our identity coming into March."

Boeheim didn't agree with Jardine's assessment.

"I don't particularly think anything helps you when you lose," Boeheim said. "I don't like that. I think you can learn by losing one. I don't think you have to lose four."

Senior forward Rick Jackson said the Orange's four-game losing streak was the "dark point."

"We just had to get out of there," Jackson said. "I think right now we're playing well. Guys are confident. I think we're all playing how we're supposed to be playing. We're doing a great job right now."

And no one is playing better than Jackson. Against USF, Jackson overwhelmed USF's interior defenders -- who, ironically, coach Stan Heath touted as "the best in the Big East" before the season. Jackson finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

It was his 16th double-double of the season. Only eight players in Syracuse history have had more in a season.

"Ricky's been good from Day 1," Boeheim said. "He's been good right from the beginning. He's been there every game. He's not had a bad night. He literally hasn't. He's been consistent all year long."

Jackson leads the Orange with an 11.5 rebounding average and is second in scoring, averaging 13.2 points.

The only chink in Jackson's armor is his free-throw shooting. Jackson is a career 49 percent free throw shooter. Even Syracuse's students participating in "flip night" at Faegan's Café and Pub have a higher percentage calling heads or tails.

With Syracuse's four-game losing streak now in its rear-view mirror, the Orange can focus on the closing stretch of the regular season. Up next is No. 13 Georgetown on Wednesday in the Carrier Dome, followed by a trip to No. 15 Louisville on Feb. 12 when the Cardinals will honor their 1986 national championship team by wearing retro 1986 uniforms.

Then later in the month, the Orange also must visit No. 12 Villanova and Georgetown.

"This league is like that," said Boeheim, about the Big East with eight teams ranked in this week's Associated Press poll. "It's the league we're in. Everybody recognizes it's a tough league. Everybody understands that, but when you lose they don't understand it.

"I guess they really don't understand it, what we're trying to say here. They don't get it. They say they get it, but they don't get it. It's a very difficult league."

Brett McMurphy is a national college writer for FanHouse. Contact him at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com and please follow at Twitter.com/BrettmcmurphY