Slumped on a couch inside the Syracuse locker room, Scoop Jardine was besieged by lights and cameras. It’s usually not like this. The sophomore guard is often overlooked and off to the side. Sifting through text messages and listening to music.

Not this night. Monday, Jardine was the main attraction.

In Syracuse’s 73-56 statement win against Georgetown, Jardine’s in-the-lane wizardry was the biggest difference. The sophomore point guard stuffed a mixtape of no-look passes and teardrops into only 18 minutes of play. With Syracuse’s offense napping early, Jardine broke the ice, notching nine points and four assists.

‘It’s basketball. You just make plays,’ Jardine said. ‘That’s all it is – making plays.’

Heading into what should – repeat, should – be a healthy Big East breather at DePaul Saturday, head coach Jim Boeheim’s backup point guard is playing better than ever. Jardine’s numbers didn’t glisten on the stat sheet, but his effect on the tempo of the game was immeasurable.

Boeheim can freely waver between Jardine and freshman Brandon Triche. The duo has all but erased memories of Jonny Flynn corralling his miniature frame into harm’s way. After a deep 3, Jardine scored all of his points in the first half Monday.

‘This is the best he’s played,’ Boeheim said of Jardine. ‘He was tremendous in the first half. He made that 3 when his ankle was hurting him. We got him out. He was OK after that, and then he made a couple really good drives.

‘We have seven guys that can start. Some people don’t have five.’

By now, Jardine knows his role. He’s 1B at point guard, instant offense whenever Triche may be struggling. At Wednesday’s practice, there was Jardine with the backups – Syracuse’s ‘orange’ squad. Wearing a blue T-shirt over an orange long-sleeve shirt, Jardine can flip from one side to the other. He’s a living luxury. Just two years ago, Boeheim was force-feeding players onto the court throughout an injury-ravaged season. When Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf were both snakebitten by season-ending knee injuries, Jardine was prematurely entrusted with serious minutes.

A raw freshman with an awkward, mechanical jumper, Jardine played 20 minutes per game with 10 starts. This year? Twenty-one minutes per game and zero starts. He is fully maximizing each shift with 8.3 points and 4.9 assists per game.

At one point during practice, Boeheim called for his scout team to run a full-court press against SU’s starters. The Orange’s bottom five shuffled into their places and – looking for a 6-on-5 scrimmage – Boeheim summoned Jardine to hop in as well. An odd sight: a regular, Jardine, surrounded by walk-on players.

All year, he has been Syracuse’s go-to utility player.

In the 2-3 zone, he follows the coaches’ in-game instructions to slide, close out, trap and repeat. On offense, his shooting stroke has vastly improved. It’s obvious what Jardine’s focus was all of last season. Out the entire year due to a stress fracture, he clearly hoisted a high volume of jumpers. This season, he is shooting 50 percent from the field.

‘I work so hard on my jump shot all year,’ Jardine said. ‘I get here early and shoot so I feel that when guys back off me, I need to be very confident to knock the shot down. That’s what I did.’

Still, above all, Jardine’s strength is creating. Waiting for a play to unravel, a cutter to break loose and striking.

After Georgetown’s Jason Clark nailed a 3 with eight minutes left to make it a 12-point game, Jardine answered. The next possession, he fired a pass from the top of the key to Onuaku for a thunderous jam. Syracuse took a 59-45 lead. Georgetown never got closer. Onuaku knows his head must be on swivel when he roams the baseline.

‘Whenever I’m playing with the point guards, I’m always trying to catch it in a spot where I can finish,’ Onuaku said. ‘I know they’re looking for me.’

Next up is another road test, albeit against a conference bottom-feeder. With a win, Syracuse can continue its climb in the national rankings. After Kentucky’s first loss of the season Tuesday night, Syracuse could potentially jump to No. 3 with a win Saturday. Maybe higher.

Playing at the top of his game, Jardine knows you can never have blinders on in the Big East.

‘They can come out and do the same thing Georgetown did, so we have to be mentally ready,’ Jardine said. ‘That’s the thing with this league. We have to be mentally ready to go down and do our job.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on January 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm