NEWARK, N.J. –– The two bandages stifled the burning sensation throbbing through Rick Jackson. A burning sensation caused by an unknown Seton Hall culprit’s physicality.

‘I don’t know what happened,’ Jackson said of the play at the start of the second half. ‘I just know I got a rebound, went back up, and next thing you know my back was burning.’

Standing shirtless in the Prudential Center locker room after a gritty 61-56 win over Seton Hall, the three-inch laceration lining the top of Rick Jackson’s back was the lasting mark. It was just one of several signs of the game which had just occurred – a game where Seton Hall’s shifty attacking defense put a beating on No. 4 Syracuse.

After a game in which SU went to the line 36 times and two Seton Hall players together out-rebounded the entire Orange team, Syracuse head athletic trainer Brad Pike and SU strength and conditioning director Ryan Cabiles attended to the wound. All the while, Jackson and his 14 rebounds were left to answer for Syracuse’s, at times, soft performance.

‘In the Big East,’ Jackson started, ‘especially on the road, there are no easy games being ranked like this: No. 4 team in the nation. They are never going to lay down for you.’

Saturday, Seton Hall did anything but lay down for the Orange. In Syracuse’s first true road game of the season, the undersized Pirates inflicted an attacking game on SU.

With a ball-pressure three-quarter-court press, Seton Hall hounded Syracuse’s guards for 40 minutes. In the paint, SHU’s Herb Pope (20) and Jeff Robinson (14) combined for 34 rebounds. SU tallied just 32 to the Pirates’ 44 total. Jackson – the Big East leader in rebounds – hauled in 14 total, but besides Kris Joseph (8), no other player grabbed more than three. It was a cause for concern for SU head coach Jim Boeheim.

‘I think the biggest disappointment, is, we have been rebounding the ball well all year,’ Boeheim said.

The guards weren’t the only ones Boeheim faulted for the performance. After going nine deep in the first half, the head coach left freshman big man Fab Melo and his fellow freshman teammates C.J. Fair and Dion Waiters on the bench in the second half. The starting center Melo only played seven second half minutes while Waiters and Fair didn’t leave the bench. Boeheim said Waiters did ‘nothing with ten straight first half minutes after a great week of practice,’ and Fair is still recovering from a lingering ankle injury.

As for Melo and fellow freshman center Baye Moussa Keita? If they don’t help on the boards and defensively, like on Saturday, there is no use for them, Boeheim said. The two freshmen combined for four rebounds.

‘The two big guys, they just don’t help us on offense at all,’ Boeheim said. ‘And if they aren’t helping us on defense, then there is no point in playing them in the game.’

At the head of Seton Hall’s defensive attack was the center Pope. He shifted in the Pirates’ zone and man defense, getting help from others who would double down on Jackson. Flanking him were three Pirates’ guards at a time applying ball pressure, whether the defense be in man or zone.

But SHU head coach Kevin Willard didn’t say that he was doubling Jackson out of fear for SU’s lone big. Rather, his lone big in Pope is too coveted to lose due to defending Jackson alone.

That’s why the Seton Hall swarms occurred.

It wasn’t (Jackson),’ Willard said. ‘It was making sure we didn’t get Herb Pope in foul trouble.’

Pope played most of the last 12 minutes of the game with four fouls. Because of his 38 minutes, SHU almost escaped with the win. He wasn’t a phantom leader.

But he may have been the phantom with the physicality who clawed Jackson in attempt for the early second half rebound. Jackson may never know. One thing is certain, however: On the first road trip of Jackson’s senior year, the Pirates pillaged the physical style of play SU prides itself in.

‘A couple of their guys had busted lips and things like that,’ Jackson said. ‘That just goes to show the Big East is a tough conference and you have just got to stay with it.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on January 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm