PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Jim Boeheim flailed his arms in the air in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and really, that was all he could do.

Providence’s Geoff McDermott grabbed an offensive rebound over SU forward Paul Harris and center Darryl Watkins. He put up a second-chance lay-up and it missed. Friars forward Herbert Hill then snatched another offensive rebound and this time succeeded on the put back.

Offensive rebound after offensive rebound, McDermott and Hill out-muscled, out-positioned and outplayed Syracuse’s big men down low. Thanks to Providence’s inability to finish inside – excluding Hill – Syracuse survived a 13-rebound disadvantage and defeated the Friars Saturday, 71-67.

Syracuse allowed 26 offensive rebounds, the most it has allowed this season. The next highest was 21 by Connecticut, when the Huskies defeated SU, 67-60, on Feb. 5.

The official statistics only keep second-chance points and the Friars were credited with 25. Many of them were third-chance points. After all, Providence shot just 35 percent from the field and missed 14 lay-ups.

But it was Hill who kept Providence in the game almost single-handedly. He finished with a career-high 29 points, with 15 rebounds and eight blocks. Most impressively, he did it on 13-of-16 shooting, a sign that he was rarely challenged down low.

Boeheim said Syracuse is hurting in the paint because senior Terrence Roberts is bogged by a torn meniscus injury in his knee. Roberts logged only 12 minutes and finished with four rebounds.

‘We’re just trying to get what we can out of him,’ Boeheim said of Roberts. ‘If we lose him, that’s where we get hurt on the boards. We lose him on rebounding and defense. He was getting off to a pretty good start, but it looked like he was moving better at the beginning. We just need to get what we can out of him.’

Watkins said the strategy against Hill was simple.

‘Just keep the ball out of his hands,’ Watkins said. ‘But he ended up finding another way to get points and get on the offensive glass.’

Hill mustered nine offensive rebounds and McDermott added five of his own. Providence shot 4-of-22 from beyond the arc and it seemed the two big men were always there to clean up on the offensive glass after missed shots and convert a bucket in the paint.

Harris thought Watkins, who finished with a double-double himself (11 points and 13 rebounds), contained Hill just enough.

‘Mookie did his part,’ Harris said. ‘He rebounded. He tried to bang against Hill. Hill’s a really good player and I’m just glad we got the victory.’

Still, Providence outscored Syracuse in the paint, 44-26. The inability to pull down rebounds on the defensive end was a matter of positioning to Watkins.

‘It was just not boxing out,’ Watkins said. ‘Everybody wanted to go and just get the rebound.’

Syracuse showed flashes of being able to convert second-chance opportunities on its own end during critical moments late in the second half when the game was on the line.

Andy Rautins grabbed an offensive rebound after a Demetris Nichols-missed 3-pointer. He kicked it back out to Devendorf, who converted from beyond the arc, with 6:43 left. In the second half, Providence scored only two more second-chance points than SU.

‘That was big for us late down the stretch considering we had none for the whole game,’ Rautins said. ‘They were beating us on the offensive glass, but we did it when it really mattered and we got it back out to our shooters.’

Harris grabbed perhaps the most important rebound of the season with five seconds left after Weyinmi Efejuku missed a lay-up inside. Providence head coach Tim Welsh insisted Efejuku was fouled, but the only foul was called on Hill after he was forced to send Harris to the line. The freshman made both free throws to clinch the Orange victory, one that seems unlikely just glancing at the rebounding differences on the stat sheet.

‘We are just glad we got out of here with a win,’ Nichols said. ‘We just have to get better on the boards.’

Published on February 25, 2007 at 12:00 pm