TAMPA, Fla. — Leading Syracuse back onto the St. Pete Times Forum’s court after the halftime break, Rick Jackson was antsy. Searching for someone – anyone – to throw him a ball for halftime warmups. He wanted to continue his savage first half that propelled Syracuse to a 72-49 victory over South Florida on Saturday.

At long last, he chuckled to himself. No basketballs were ready for him and the Orange.

Jackson feasted on USF power forward Augustus Gilchrist and the rest of the Bulls in the first half. Maybe Jackson’s best half of the year, in a season with a bevy of them. All Jackson wanted to do was get right back to it.

For Jackson, his first half might was due to basic instinct.

‘I play all off of instinct,’ he said. ‘I really just do whatever they give me.’

The Bulls may have given Jackson some, but he took more. With his rugged performance – 13 points, six rebounds and four assists in the first half – he led No. 17 Syracuse (20-4, 7-4 Big East) to its second straight victory after losing four in a row, an easy 23-point win over South Florida (8-16, 2-9 Big East).

The victory gave SU head coach Jim Boeheim his 33rd season of at least 20 wins as a head coach. This one came as Jackson dominated the half and the game in front of a pro-Orange crowd of 10,051.

It was tyranny in the paint for Jackson against Gilchrist and USF forward Jarrid Famous. The senior Jackson – the conference’s leading rebounder entering the game averaging 11.5 – finished the game with 21 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. It was Jackson’s 16th double-double in 24 games on the year. But Jackson said he couldn’t say if this was the best.

‘I don’t know, you got to ask somebody else to answer that,’ Jackson said. ‘Maybe stats-wise it was.’

After the game, Boeheim forecasted the response Jackson ultimately gave. And even the coach wouldn’t go as far as saying Jackson is having the best year of anyone in the Big East.

Still, plenty of praise was warranted.

‘Ricky has been good from day one,’ Boeheim said. ‘He has been good right from the beginning. He has had good games.’

But he didn’t coast from the start. In the game’s first four minutes, Jackson rarely touched the ball as the Orange struggled to find the power forward in the paint. At the 15:42 mark of the first half, Jackson had one free throw made and zero rebounds.

Things changed. Fast.

As the Orange’s transition offense flowed effortlessly out in the open like earlier in the season, Jackson flourished on offense. With the pistons of the Syracuse transition game working with clockwork efficiency – at times burning the Bulls for three-second full-court baskets – the engine of it all got going.

That engine was Jackson. In 10 minutes, he scored 10 points as the Orange extended its lead to double digits.

His butchering of USF when vying for rebounding position made it simple for SU junior point guard Scoop Jardine to push the tempo.

‘That’s how it all starts, rebounding,’ Jardine said. ‘Getting great position so our guards can get out and run.’

Position on low-post moves was also the reason Jackson felt he manhandled the paint. He knew coming into the game that South Florida was a ‘big-guy team.’

The goal was to get Gilchrist – the Bulls’ best player – and Famous in foul trouble. Foul trouble didn’t ensue for the Bulls’ big men, but they were shut down when it mattered. Gilchrist finished with only four points.

SU’s lead would hover around 10 past halftime and through the first 15 minutes of the second. Until Jackson put a stamp on his performance with a reverse layup in the final five minutes.

Numbers-wise, the game was decided with Jackson’s first-half performance. In reality, it felt over with 9:40 left in the game. SU led 53-41. With a timeout, each team retreated to its bench. The Orange-heavy crowd cheered in unison.

It was a standing ovation for Jackson.

All he could do back, as he smiled staring into the crowd, was salute. Just another day at work for SU’s floor leader.

‘He has been consistent for us all year long,’ Boeheim said. ‘He has not had a bad night. He literally hasn’t.’

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Published on February 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm