JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When the Syracuse men’s basketball team won the national championship in 2003, it battled four Big 12 teams in six games. But this year’s Orange couldn’t measure up to the tough style of Texas A&M, its first postseason Big 12 opponent since Syracuse defeated Kansas for the national title.

SU was unable to deal with Texas A&M’s physical defense, scoring 58 points, its third-lowest point total this season, despite shooting more accurately from the field than the Aggies.

Texas A&M focused on playing SU tight on defense, especially its guards. The strategy worked, holding Gerry McNamara, Eric Devendorf and Demetris Nichols, Syracuse’s top three scorers, only to 18 points on 7-of-27 shooting. Combined, they scored 42.3 points per game this season.

‘We got off to a slow start offensively and it was tough to come back from that,’ Syracuse forward Terrence Roberts said. ‘They did a good job putting pressure on the ball and taking looks away from our shooters.’

While McNamara didn’t produce mainly because an injury kept him on the sideline, Nichols continued his late-season slump. He scored only five points and made only two of the seven shots he attempted.

The Aggies’ tight defense and subsequent lack of production from Syracuse caused the Orange to go inside to Roberts and center Darryl Watkins. SU failed to receive consistent offensive production from its frontcourt during the season, and Texas A&M figured it had an advantage when Syracuse gave the ball to its big men.

The bruising style played more to Texas A&M’s advantage than Syracuse’s.

‘From the start they dictated,’ Syracuse center Darryl Watkins said. ‘We played how they wanted.’

Roberts and Watkins led Syracuse for the most part, but didn’t have enough support from the rest of the team. Roberts topped Syracuse with 16 points and added nine rebounds. Watkins had 10 points and seven rebounds.

The defensive pressure didn’t only dictate SU’s offensive flow. The Aggies also forced Syracuse turnovers and were largely successful in taking advantage of the Orange miscues. Syracuse turned the ball over 12 times, and Texas A&M converted the opportunities into 17 points.

Syracuse scored 24 points in the first half, putting itself nine points behind the Aggies when the second half began. With the slow, physical nature of the game, the margin proved too much to overcome.

‘Offensively, we just couldn’t get on track in the first half,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘They played well defensively and they deserved to win the game.’

Published on March 20, 2006 at 12:00 pm