Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - All it took was a simple adjustment by Jamar Nutter to help Seton Hall send Syracuse to its fourth straight loss.
Nutter hit a long 3-pointer with 1:55 left to break a 59-all tie and Donald Copeland followed with another long 3 with 72 seconds remaining to help send the Pirates to a 68-61 victory over the No. 25 Orange on Sunday.
’“Syracuse is so long in their zone. I was rushing my shot and it wasn’t coming out of my hand right. I knew I was doing something wrong,” said Nutter, who was 0-for-3 from long range and scored just two points before the break. “I was trying to catch it and get it over them quick. In the second half, I just told myself to back up, you can shoot from there.’ “
So can Copeland, who swished a long one from left wing just 43 seconds later.
“I had an open look. I felt that was as good a time as ever,” said Copeland, who finished with 18 points and eight assists. “It felt good leaving my hand.”
The Orange have lost four in a row for the first time since the end of the 2001-02 regular season and for only the third time in Jim Boeheim’s 30 years as head coach.
“We’ve lost a lot of confidence,” Boeheim said. “Our offense has got to do better. They made some long 3s and we didn’t make any. That’s our game. That’s the way we have to play. We’re getting good looks, we have to make them.”
Unranked since November until two weeks ago, the Orange surely will disappear again on Monday.
“It’s hard to lose four straight and feel good about yourself,” said senior guard Gerry McNamara, who led the Orange with 15 points but shot 5-for-17 overall and missed nine 3-point attempts. “We’ve just got to battle and try to get another win.”
Still, McNamara upped his career points total to 1,893, fifth all-time at Syracuse and 10 points ahead of Dave Bing, He also had five steals to move into second place with 237, two ahead of Sherman Douglas.
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It was Syracuse’s first game against an unranked team since the Orange (15-6, 3-4 Big East) won 88-82 at Notre Dame 18 days earlier. In between, they had beaten Cincinnati and lost to Connecticut, Villanova, and Pittsburgh.
The Pirates (12-6, 3-3) were coming off an 83-65 victory over No. 15 North Carolina State on Wednesday night, the Wolfpack’s only home loss this season.
Syracuse fell behind 47-41 in the first seven minutes of the second half as Nutter drained three 3-pointers to key a 16-7 Seton Hall run. And every time the Orange came close, the Pirates refused to wilt and kept the crowd of 26,737 quiet.
“We know home-court advantage is like a sixth man,” said Nutter, who finished with 19 points. “Once the crowd gets into it, you get energy from it. I saw Boeheim stand up and tell the crowd to get loud. I felt like I had to make a play.”
After Demetris Nichols converted his own block into a fast-break layup to move Syracuse within 49-47 midway through the half, Grant Billmeier converted an easy layin and Nutter drained a long 3 from right wing to boost the Pirates lead to 54-48 with 8:13 left.
Terrence Roberts, who had 12 points and 13 rebounds, tied it at 57-all with a follow slam with 3:38 left, and the crowd came alive. After Nutter converted a layup, McNamara hit two free throws to tie it again, but that proved to be the Orange’s last gasp.
In the final minute, Nichols’ 3-point attempt rimmed in and out and McNamara missed two 3-pointers as the Orange failed to take advantage of missed free throws by Billmeier and Copeland.
Syracuse, troubled by the inconsistent play of 6-foot-11 center Darryl Watkins, tried to get him involved in the offense, with limited success. He had five points, eight rebounds, three blocks, four steals, and didn’t foul out as he had in the previous three games, but he offset that with three missed dunks and six turnovers.
“Every time I saw him miss, I was by him. I was like, ’Thank you,’ “ Nutter said with a smile. “I mean, that’s supposed to go in. That’s an easy two points.”
So are layups, but the Orange missed eight of them, shot 5-for-27 on 3-pointers and scored only 24 points off Seton Hall’s 24 turnovers.
“Our guys played hard and with a lot of courage, courage to make some big shots, and the shots were so timely,” said Seton Hall coach Louis Orr, who starred at Syracuse under Boeheim 26 years ago. “We just kept competing. We played through mistakes.”
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Herb Pope scored 19 points, including four free throws in final 10 seconds, and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Seton Hall to a 73-66 victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
