TAMPA, Fla. – Suddenly, the St. Petersburg Times Forum became The Swamp. A haze of 3-pointers erased Syracuse’s comfy double-digit lead. Yet again, Florida was in attack mode.

Chomping arms blanketed the Orange in all directions as the entire crowd rose to its feet. For the first time since the 18:22 mark of the first half, Syracuse trailed. Andy Rautins curled around two screens, received the pass, pulled the trigger and those roars were choked into a whimper.

‘I just let it fly,’ Rautins said, ‘and we didn’t look back from there.’

Faced with flash floods of adversity, Syracuse prevailed. In possibly its biggest win to date, the No. 7 Orange defeated No. 10 Florida, 85-73 Thursday night. Rautins, the village elder of this young team, knows the value of these wins.

After feasting on featherweights for a month, SU’s resolve was tested. Withstanding Florida’s helter-skelter barrage of 3’s gives Syracuse a swagger.

‘They’re huge,’ Rautins said. ‘Especially at a neutral site when you’re away from home. You have majority Florida fans here. It’s a big win for the resume.’

SU couldn’t coast through the game Thursday. In the first half, Florida rendered Syracuse’s best player a footnote. Wherever Wes Johnson went, he was badgered by a slew of Florida defenders.

Early on, stringy Dan Werner was the leech. Other times, Chandler Parsons. Then, Alex Tyus. They face-guarded, hand-checked, fronted, whatever it took to soften Johnson’s prowess.

At halftime, Syracuse’s go-to scorer had four points. He wasn’t concerned. Rick Jackson picked up the slack on offense, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the first half.

But Johnson – described as a ‘very, very patient’ player by head coach Jim Boeheim – was never personally frustrated. Just as SU overcame a brief rash of turnovers early in the game, Johnson eventually heated up.

Using the word ‘composure’ six times in a span of two minutes, Johnson reassured that he and the team were not worried even when he was shut down, when Florida’s full-court pressure was raging or when SU lost its lead.

This win had a clear purpose for this team’s higher vision. For the first time this season, Syracuse endured a hostile environment.

‘It was a home game for them,’ Johnson said. ‘We came in knowing that it’d be a dogfight. They’d throw a punch, and we’d come back with another punch.’

Meanwhile, undersized Florida was perfectly content launching bombs from NBA-range against SU’s 2-3 zone. The Gators finished 12-of-30 beyond the arc. With three consecutive 3’s along a second-half surge, Florida flipped a 54-44 deficit into a 59-57 advantage. The moment Chandler Parsons’ 3 ripped nylon, the energy reset at full blast.

Rautins answered. Assistant coach Mike Hopkins jolted out of his seat in excitement for a chest bump. After a timeout, Johnson broke loose for a five-point burst. And Syracuse had breathing room. Florida never recovered.

Johnson finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, as Rautins added 16.

‘This is a good win,’ Boeheim said. ‘Any time you play a top team, it’s a very big win. To me, they’re all important. You try to get as many as you can.’

In other words, hold the confetti. Don’t order Final Four tickets quite yet. Syracuse hasn’t played any conference games yet. That’s the ultimate gauge. But for now, it doesn’t get any bigger than this.

As Syracuse players herded into the tunnel after the game – towels and warm-up shirts around their necks – they pointed into the crowd and pumped their fists.

After surviving, and thriving, outside of New York State Thursday, Rautins knows what this team is all about.

‘We’re a team. We’re out there getting vocal with each other,’ Rautins said. ‘Nobody is out there for themselves, which is huge. Everybody is able to communicate and is open-minded. We’re very cohesive as a unit.’

At which point Rautins was asked about his clutch 3 – the importance of it, how it rallied the Orange, how it shut up the crowd.

He talked about it briefly, glanced around the locker room and cut himself short. There were too many contributors for the focus to be on him.

‘There were certainly guys out there making bigger plays than I did tonight.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on December 10, 2009 at 12:00 pm