Jim Boeheim knew how much Syracuse needed Darryl Watkins to stay in the game, especially after Terrence Roberts fouled out with seven minutes left.

Watkins wasn’t in foul trouble, so Boeheim wasn’t about to take him out – even if the senior center was visibly injured.

‘He was hurt in the last four minutes, but I just tried to ignore him,’ Boeheim said, laughing. ‘He didn’t say he had to come out, so I wasn’t going to take him out.’

After an impressive 17-point, seven-rebound effort at South Florida, Watkins followed up with 13 rebounds and four points against Connecticut on Saturday. Eleven of the boards came in the first half alone.

‘The real story of the game was Mookie was great inside defensively and on the boards,’ Boeheim said. ‘That’s two games in a row that he’s been tremendous. That just makes us a different team. And he hit his shots when he was open.’

Boeheim acknowledged Watkins’ offense was missing on Saturday, but SU didn’t need it. What it did need was Watkins’ effort on the glass that was missing during Syracuse and UConn’s first matchup in Connecticut two weeks ago.

In that game, Watkins played only 10 minutes and had more fouls (five) than rebounds (three) against the Huskies. Six minutes into Saturday’s game, Watkins equaled his rebound total from Feb. 5.

‘We definitely had a grudge coming in for the rebound’s sake,’ Watkins said. ‘We wanted to go in and get more rebounds and set ourselves and make sure we got more rebounds on offense and defense.’

Syracuse’s 55 total rebounds were the most it’s had in Big East play, by far. The team’s previous high was 44, at Marquette and Louisville.

Despite playing injured, Watkins was Syracuse’s heart and soul on the glass, Boeheim said.

‘Mookie turned his ankle,’ Boeheim said. ‘I thought he showed a lot of guts – a lot of guts. A lot of heart.’

Answering the criticsAmong other things, Boeheim used his postgame press conference to defend his team’s NCAA Tournament resume. Unprovoked, Boeheim discussed Syracuse’s big wins and non-conference schedule.

As of games through Saturday, Syracuse’s RPI is 63rd and its strength of schedule is 56th in the nation. The 63rd-ranked RPI is ninth best in the Big East, behind Pittsburgh (4), Georgetown (17), Villanova (18), Marquette (33), West Virginia (49), Louisville (52), Notre Dame (56) and DePaul (57).

‘I don’t think we’ve played anywhere near as well as we can this year,’ Boeheim said. ‘I think we played great at Marquette and Villanova. They were two great wins where we really played well. Villanova is a great team. I watched them again today (versus Georgetown) before our game. That win, people underrated some of the wins that we have, I guess when we win it doesn’t matter. That was a tremendous win.

‘I think the one thing that’s interesting is we try to play as many non-league games against quality teams as we could. Everybody says our schedule was bad. That’s not the case. Those teams are all good. The Hofstras and Holy Crosses and those people that we played – those teams helped us get better and I think that we learned as a team as we’ve gone this year. I think we’re a better team now. I still think we can play better and that’s fine. That happens a lot. That happens with a lot of teams.’

Syracuse’s non-conference strength of schedule was ranked 126th in the nation.

This and thatESPN broadcaster and Syracuse alumnus Mike Tirico was seated courtside as a fan Saturday. Tirico attended the game with his wife and two children. His two children wore Syracuse jerseys. SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins, among others, came to greet Tirico before the game. …Saturday’s attendance of 32,376 was the 25th-largest crowd in Carrier Dome history. With the win, Syracuse improved to 42-21 all-time at the Dome in front of 30,000 or more crowds.

Published on February 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm