Arinze Onuaku knew that top-ranked Kansas and No. 2 Kentucky lost before Syracuse’s game Saturday night. He called those two losses surprising, but he couldn’t get caught up in the drama. The Orange had to make sure it didn’t become the third top 5 team to lose in one day.

‘We knew that ‘Nova was coming in here trying to upset us today,’ Onuaku said. ‘So we attacked them from the tip.’

And with that relentless attack, the top-seed in the Big East tournament is locked up, as is at least a share of the Big East regular-season title.

No. 4 Syracuse crushed No. 7 Villanova, 95-77, in front of the largest-ever on-campus crowd of 34,616 in a battle of the top two teams in the Big East. After Kansas, Kentucky and No. 3 Purdue all fell this weekend, Syracuse possibly can move up to the new No. 1 spot when the rankings are released Monday afternoon.

‘It’s great,’ Onuaku said. ‘It’s been a long time since, one, we beat ‘Nova and, two, we earned this Big East championship. It’s big for us and our program and big for our team and just big for Syracuse as a whole.’

Before the season, suggesting Syracuse (27-2, 14-2 Big East) could possibly be the No. 1 team in the nation would’ve drawn laughs. Not after losing its three top scorers from last season’s Sweet 16 squad. The Big East coaches seemed to agree, choosing the Orange sixth in the preseason poll. This Villanova (23-5, 12-4) squad that left the Carrier Dome with its worst loss of the season was pegged as the preseason favorite.

Yet, there it was, as in front of an energetic crowd Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim emptied his bench to let freshmen get a taste of the action late in the contest. Villanova’s supposed advantage in guard play was neutralized. The Syracuse frontcourt dominated from start to finish, slamming home dunk after dunk in front of the congregation of former Orange greats like John Wallace, Lawrence Moten and Derrick Coleman.

After 40 minutes there was no doubt Syracuse had been slighted in the preseason polls, and beating the chosen top team in the conference was vindication enough.

‘I don’t think anybody had drawn out that this would happen,’ junior forward Wes Johnson said. ‘I think we came in with a chip on our shoulder and tried to prove everybody wrong. We’re still going to do that Tuesday and the rest of season.’

It happened with a balanced attack that left Villanova in the dust. Six Syracuse players scored in double digits, led by Rick Jackson with 19 points.

Jackson and Onuaku were perhaps the most important cogs, combining for 36 points and 17 rebounds. Since Villanova is guard-oriented, the big men were able to find space down low and find great looks at the basket all night.

Then there were the backups. After Villanova grabbed a 23-14 lead, Jardine and Joseph helped swing the momentum for Syracuse.

Jardine sparked Syracuse with a quick 3 and an end-to-end layup that sliced the lead to five. He later added another 3. He finished with 16 points, matching Villanova’s stud guard Scottie Reynolds.

Joseph complemented Onuaku’s and Jackson’s work inside with 16 points and nine rebounds. Twenty-three seconds after he entered, he scored on a layup while being fouled to give Syracuse the lead. Joseph later gave the Orange the advantage for good with a reverberating two-handed slam on a pass from Jardine with 4:35 left in the first half that made it 31-30. SU led at the break, 46-36.

‘I thought Kris and Scoop were just huge,’ Boeheim said. ‘They got us back into the game. I’ve said all year long, those two guys are like starters, and they play just like starters.’

As the game concluded, the players stood on the court looking at the record crowd that had shown up on this night. Rautins clapped his hands in appreciation, before holding up the index fingers on both his hands. Onuaku proudly flashed a No. 1 sign with his hands, in accordance with the fans chanting ‘We’re No.1! We’re No. 1!’

While the Big East No. 1 seed and at least a share of the conference regular-season title were both accomplished, the postgame chatter was much more about the polls coming out Monday. Will the Orange be ranked No. 1 come Monday? Possibly.

Then again, the players don’t care unless that No. 1 ranking comes in April.

‘I definitely agree (we should be No. 1), but we’ve been a team that’s not worried about numbers all year,’ Onuaku said. ‘Our goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the year, and at the end of the season when it’s all said and done, we want to be No.1. So we’re just going to leave that up to all the people that got to do that type of stuff.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on February 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm