Just minutes after Syracuse’s biggest win of the season against Baylor in the EA Sports Maui Invitational on Wednesday, Jim Boeheim was on to the next one. He took no time to savor the victory over a Top 25 team, relish a third Maui title or enjoy Hawaii’s pristine beaches.

“It’s a great trip, obviously,” the Orange’s head coach said during the postgame press conference following his team’s 74-67 win against the then-No. 18 Bears. “Unfortunately, right now I’m thinking about Indiana; I’m not thinking about this anymore.”

No. 4 SU (7-0) will play its second straight game against a strong opponent Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. in the Carrier Dome against Indiana (6-1) for the Big 10/ACC Challenge. It will serve as a rematch of last year’s Sweet 16, in which No. 4-seeded Syracuse knocked off the No. 1-seeded Hoosiers in Washington, D.C. on its way to the Final Four.

This time, though, the roles are reversed. The Orange is the favorite to earn another marquee win against IU, who is ranked 23rd in this week’s USA Today Poll.

The rosters are vastly different — Michael Carter-Williams, who led SU to its upset win last March, Brandon Triche and James Southerland are gone. So too are IU’s Jordan Hulls, Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller and Christian Watford.

But once again both teams are contenders in top conferences, although SU is the one with the better chance at a national title.

After one of the Orange’s first games, Boeheim ranted about how the departures that had shaken SU would lead to Syracuse struggles.

But after a slow start to the season, the new-look Orange has found its rhythm. Jerami Grant and C.J. Fair have shown the potential to be go-to scorers. SU defeated a Baylor team that excels in the post. Inexperienced guards Tyler Ennis and Trevor Cooney have rounded into form.

“Being young guards that were playing against three really good teams and three different teams, every night was different for us,” Cooney said during the postgame press conference after Syracuse’s win over the Bears. “Every team was different, and all three were great challenges for us. And I thought we stepped it up every night and brought it. I thought that was great for us.”

For Indiana, who returns just one starter from last year’s Sweet 16 team, the difference maker has been freshman Noah Vonleh. The forward leads the Big Ten with 10.4 rebounds per game and has helped the Hoosiers overachieve their preseason projections.

“I think Vonleh’s the best freshman inside player in the country,” Boeheim said during The Dan Dakich Show on Monday.

But Vonleh’s physicality is nothing that the Orange has yet to experience, although before last week that would’ve been difficult to say. SU had played close games against mid-major opponents leading up to the Maui Invitational, but that was more because of Syracuse’s own doing. Careless turnovers and a stagnant half-court offense kept lesser opponents in games.

In Lahaina, Hawaii, though, the Orange finally played well. Cooney rained 3s. Ennis dropped 28 against California on Tuesday. Fair earned MVP honors with standout performance after standout performance.

He stretched the floor out with jump shots, but also banged with talented Baylor big men Isaiah Austin and Cory Jefferson during a 24-point finale. Even his signature play of the tournament, which came against Minnesota two days prior, was a ferocious dunk while an arm banged against his face and split open his right cheek.

All tournament long, Fair battled in the post.

“We knew coming into this game they were going to be a physical team and they like to pedal the backboards,” Fair said during the postgame press conference after the Orange’s win against the Bears. “The main thing we just had to compete with them, and when we did get the ball, we had to push it for the fast break.”

Last time the Carrier Dome hosted its beloved team, SU struggled against St. Francis (N.Y.) for the Maui Invitational’s opening game. The Terriers pounded the ball inside and gave Syracuse its biggest scare yet.

It was perhaps SU’s worst performance of the year, but Syracuse adjusted and followed it up with its three best against a variety of teams, and some play just as physical as the Orange saw against St. Francis.

More than a month into the season now, SU has learned from its early-season mistakes and finally finds itself in control.

“We had four ridiculously difficult games, and the most difficult one was the first one before we even got to Maui,” Boeheim said. “We barely escaped with that first game. Every game here has been difficult.”

Published on December 3, 2013 at 1:47 am

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