Syracuse rights itself by shredding Bearcats D

CINCINNATI -- Jim Boeheim didn't know what to expect Monday night. Because he never expected his team to play so poorly in Syracuse's only loss of the season two days earlier. Monday, the Orange played in front of the Bearcats first sellout of the season, then saw Cincinnati make four-of-five threes as the game started. He didn't panic, but he did wonder. Which was why he was so disgustingly pleased with the way his team played down the stretch in a 60-53 win. Syracuse might not be the same team without Fab Melo in the middle, but they proved their mettle on Monday by turning a 41-38 deficit with 11:07 left into a 59-48 lead. Those baskets came in the easiest of ways, on dunks and layups, back-door and otherwise. To Boeheim it was an example of the way an offense should function. "I told the players it was probably as good a regular season bounce-back win as I can remember at Syracuse," he said. Which would be a span of more than 30 Hall of Fame seasons going back to 1976. The Orange scored 21 points on two dunks, four layups and three three-pointers. "That was a tremendous job during that one stretch of execution on offense," Boeheim said. Bearcats coach Mick Cronin, though, was more upset with his team's non-effort to stop Syracuse. "Inexcusable," Cronin said of his team's defensive effort. Syracuse has lost only once in 22 games and is still ranked third in the nation (fourth in the coach's poll), but this loss exposed a concern that could be problematic for Cincinnati (15-6, 5-3 in the Big East) as the season winds toward tournament time -- if it doesn't fix it. "I don't care if you're playing Syracuse or St. Ann's where I went to grade school," Cronin said. "When you have guys dribbling for layups, they're going to make them." Obviously one man's poor effort is another's good one. Syracuse's two-three zone held Cincinnati to 34.4 percent (21-for-61) shooting. The Bearcats made four of its first five threes, then made four of the last 20 -- with some of the shots coming from past King's Island. Syracuse had 36 points in the paint -- something an angry Cronin pointed out -- and made nine of its last 13 shots, a reflection of how they were getting to the rim. And they did it with Melo still missing for undisclosed reasons. The Orange will take every win while their best defender and shot-blocker is not with the team. Melo's absence might have contributed to losing in Notre Dame. Monday, the Orange seemed to have gotten their bearings. "We were just so woeful Saturday night," Boeheim said. "Coming in here in that atmosphere, the way they started the game I thought it was just tremendous (to win)." Saturday was that bad. "I don't think I've ever had a game where not one guy -- we're playing a lot of guys now -- where not one guy did anything," Boeheim said. He was so flabbergasted he watched the tape twice. "Because I couldn't believe what I was watching," he said. "If we played like that in here tonight, we'd have gotten beat by 30 points." They didn't, clearly. And Boeheim almost left with a smile on his face. "It was as good a game," he said, "as any that I can remember from playing so poorly."