Don’t expect Wes Johnson to wait for his team’s highlights to loop and re-loop on SportsCenter. Not a chance.

‘No, no,’ Johnson said. ‘I’ll probably have nightmares.’

Johnson would rather leave this play in the archives. Forever.

Eight minutes into Tuesday night’s game against Providence, Johnson took flight to finish an alley-oop when a Providence player undercut him. His body went airborne and – head first – he tumbled to the floor. Everyone on the SU bench jumped to their feet. Gasps filled the Carrier Dome. Johnson didn’t move. For a moment, the Orange’s season seemed to hang in the balance.

Only, this game further showcased Syracuse’s strength in numbers.

Johnson returned, only to later leave for good early in the second half with a sore left knee. His absence didn’t matter. Syracuse proved it can dominate without its best player. Johnson came out, his roommate Kris Joseph came in and No. 3 Syracuse didn’t miss a beat. SU rolled past Providence, 85-63.

After Johnson’s leg tightened on a pass from Rick Jackson three minutes into the second half, he exited the game. He could have returned but never needed to. Instead, Johnson put his warm-up shirt back on, kicked back and enjoyed the show.

‘I couldn’t move like I really wanted to, so I didn’t want to rush it,’ said Johnson, who finished with eight points in 22 minutes. ‘Kris was having a wonderful game, so I was just being a spectator tonight watching.’

The high-flying sophomore Joseph scored 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including an acrobatic series of oops and dunks.

The tide could have turned with Johnson out. For a while, Tuesday’s game was hardly a blowout. The Orange only led by three at halftime, and when SU’s National Player of the Year candidate was pulled, it was still only an 11-point game. But yet again, Syracuse’s depth was on full display.

With Johnson out, Joseph felt responsible to pick up the slack.

‘I feel like everybody had to step up a bit but especially me,’ Joseph said. ‘I had to bring something that Wes does. I wanted to do what I always do but just do a little extra that I knew we lacked with Wes out of the game.’

Joseph, who Johnson calls the ‘Sixth Man of the Year,’ buried Providence as the second half waned. Specifically, he took advantage of Providence’s over-extended defense. The Friars’ zone often floated toward the perimeter, and he made them pay.

With 12 minutes left, Joseph took a Jardine pass – was fouled – and finger-rolled the ball in to make it a 20-point game. Moments later, he broke loose for an authoritative jam. As the ball slipped through the nylon, Joseph knocked it into the hands of Director of Athletics Daryl Gross, who was sitting behind the basket.

Fifty-one seconds later, he struck again with another dunk. Just like that, the game was effectively over, 70-51. Instead of Johnson flushing Dome-rocking, momentum-swinging dunks from Jardine, it was Joseph. Not that it was any easier for Jardine. He feels guilty – like a quarterback that left his wide receiver out to dry.

When Johnson lay motionless on the court, Jardine knelt to Johnson’s side and ‘said sorry to him about 100 times.’

‘I felt guilty. I felt like I tripped him,’ Jardine said. ‘Once I caught it, I knew I was going upstairs to him. When he fell, the way he fell, it looked like it really hurt.

‘He’s going to feel it in the morning. He’s going to feel it.’

Sitting on a stool in the locker room after the game, his left leg outstretched, Johnson used his finger to trace the pain. It hurts from his left knee up to his hip. Don’t worry, he says. It’s nothing serious. Johnson said he won’t even get X-rays done as a precaution.

This is only soreness. He doesn’t expect to miss time.

‘It’ll probably be stiff tomorrow, but I’ll get treatment,’ Johnson said. ‘I’ll hope for the best (Wednesday). Hopefully it’s not too stiff. It’s going to be stiff, so I have to be ready for it.’

Still, the sight was scary.

When Johnson crashed head over heels into the hardwood, Joseph held his breath like everyone else. Only, worst-case-scenario doubt never crossed his mind. Unlike many on site, Joseph didn’t see a season burn up in flames.

The team is fine. Johnson is fine. Next up is Cincinnati.

‘Not the season,’ Joseph said. ‘But Wes is a big contributor on this team, and it would hurt to see him go down. He’s going to be fine. We have a day off tomorrow. He’ll get treatment, and he’ll be ready for Cincinnati.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on February 2, 2010 at 12:00 pm