Syracuse Orangeman Has Serious Obstacles To Win West Region

Syracuse choked away its stranglehold on the No. 1 regular season ranking after holding it for just two games.

Now, the Orange find themselves the No. 1 seed in the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament and Thursday at Energy Solutions Arena will have a similar bullseye on their back when they play Butler, a fift-seed that beat UTEP and Murray State to earn a ticket to Salt Lake.

This time, the Orange would like to stay No. 1 the rest of the year.

"The pressure of the No. 1 seed is there," said Wes Johnson, Syracuse's Naismith Award finalist. "But we don't try to look too far into that, it's really just going out and playing our basketball."

Their basketball is trapping zone defense, of which coach Jim Boeheim is college basketball's grand master, and fast breaks. Syracuse breezed through the opening rounds, beating Vermont by 23 and Gonzaga by 22.

The challenge of the zone, however, is one that appeals to Butler. The Bulldogs shot a combined 51 three-pointers in their first two games and made 20 of them.

"When I hear the name Butler, I think they got a lot of great shooters on their team," said Johnson, who scored 31 points against Gonzaga on March 18.

The problem is, zone defenses typically create opportunities for teams loaded with sharpshooters, something Boeheim

is cognizant of, but also one he thinks can be overcome by an especially good zone -- like he hopes his Orange will play Thursday.

"Any defense can be beat," he said. "The best defensive teams in the country get beat all the time. We try to do some different things in our zone. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't."

The Orange are one of two Big East teams remaining in the tournament -- the other is West Virginia -- after eight qualified. A potential obstacle for the Orange, one that could contribute to a premature exit, is the absence of 6-foot, 9-inch center Arinze Onuaku. He will miss his third tournament game Thursday with a quadriceps injury, Boeheim announced.

"He's doing better, but he's not practicing," Boeheim said. "Will not play. "

Onuaku averaged 10 points and five rebounds per game this season. Without him, forward Rick Jackson is playing center, leaving the Orange with Johnson and reserve Kris Joseph as the remaining capable forwards.

"That's the position that would concern me in terms of foul trouble," Boeheim said.

Offensively, the Orange are led by Johnson's 16.5 points per game, but guard Andy Rautins averages scored 24 points with five 3-pointers against Gonzaga, but also dropped 10 assists in each of the first two games.

"We have so many weapons offensively, I think that takes care of itself," Rautins said. He said, "I think our main key is going to be to work on defense."