ROSEMONT, Ill. – Hold up. Change of plans. Let the agonizing nine days until Selection Sunday begin. Nothing is guaranteed now.

In a game nobody saw coming, Syracuse was bulldozed on Thursday at DePaul in an ultimate trap. The Blue Demons, the second-worst Big East team entering the game, used sizzling first-half 3-point shooting to a substantial halftime lead and pulled away with a barrage of dunks for a stunning 108-69 win at Allstate Arena in front of 11,171.

With only No. 4 Villanova left on the regular season slate and a probable 8-9 matchup in the Big East tournament, Syracuse (19-10, 7-8 Big East) is in serious jeopardy of not reaching the 20-win plateau for only the third time in SU head coach Jim Boeheim’s 30-year career. Even if SU reaches that number, by far the worst loss in the Boeheim career leaves the Orange squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble through the very end.

Thursday night will leave quite a bitter impression on the selection committee. After playing superb defense in its last three games – what players all said in recent weeks was the key to a winning stretch – Syracuse allowed a season-high 108 points to a team only averaging 63.2 entering the game.

The Senior Day win prompted a DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright to lead his team into the student section after the game and give an impassioned speech at midcourt. As his tribute wrapped up, his counterpart walked into the media room for his eulogy.

‘We just had the worst defensive effort in the 30 years I’ve been coaching, and that’s about all I can say,’ Boeheim said.

That wasn’t the whole story. DePaul (12-14, 5-10) shot 62.1 percent for the game and 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the 3-point line. Five Blue Demons scored at least 15 points, including a career-high 27 on 11-of-13 shooting (5-of-5 3-pointers) by forward Karron Clark. Of the 41 field goals by DePaul, a remarkable 35 came off assists. Non-stop ball movement around the perimeter and down low freed many for open looks.

‘It seemed like they made every shot they took,’ said Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf, who was second on the team with 15 points. ‘They had a great shooting night tonight. Part was our defense was bad too but it was great job offensively by them.’

Making it all the more shocking was DePaul had scored in the 40-point range three times this season. The Blue Demons scored 65 more points than it did at Old Dominion, of all places, back on Dec. 17.

‘It’s up there with one of the worst,’ said guard Gerry McNamara, who led Syracuse with 21 points, 14 of which came as SU tried to play catch-up in the second half. ‘It’s tough to take. Early on I think it was our defense and after that they were confident. They made some tough shots. But we made it real easy for them.’

DePaul took the lead for good at 9-7 only three minutes into the game. Syracuse, which shot 40.9 percent, couldn’t muster a comeback using a full-court press in the second half. The best it could produce was three consecutive fast break dunks for DePaul at one point, but it that wasn’t enough.

Boeheim and his players said in the recent weeks every game is a must-win, and consequently weren’t interested in speaking about the team’s suddenly perilous postseason chances.

‘I’m not on the committee,’ Boeheim said. ‘It’s not up to me to decide that.’

As good as the Big East is, losing to a team by 39 points that may not even make the Big East tournament doesn’t bode well for Syracuse. A win against No. 4 Villanova on Sunday would erase much worry, but there’s a good chance thanks to Thursday night nothing will be determined for nine long days.

‘I don’t know what happened,’ McNamara said. ‘We got embarrassed.’

Published on March 2, 2006 at 12:00 pm