PHILADELPHIA – Andy Rautins barely lifted his head when he talked.

He knew Syracuse had started off abysmally again. He knew what the consequences of a repeat performance will be, and he didn’t sugarcoat it.

‘If we come out like this against Connecticut, we’re going to get killed,’ Rautins said.

With a Wednesday trip to No. 1 Connecticut looming over a sullen locker room Saturday following Syracuse’s fourth-consecutive road loss, it’s clear that nobody needed to be reminded of the would-be consequences of another lackluster start.

Nobody needed to tell Rautins, or anybody else, that Syracuse’s problems on the road are fast approaching critical mass. The Orange now sits at 2-4 on the road in the conference and still plays the top-ranked Huskies and No. 8 Marquette on the road before its regular season comes to a close. Not to mention the Big East tournament and whatever other tournament may follow are played away from the Carrier Dome.

Most of the road woes have been a result of early ineptitude. Displays of that were almost too numerous to count Saturday: Syracuse had two points and four turnovers in the first five minutes and found itself down by 10. Only one player, Rick Jackson, scored a field goal in the first 15 minutes. Four Villanova players had made field goals by that point.

It isn’t the first time this has happened.

-Against Georgetown on Jan. 14, Syracuse shot less than 40 percent in the first half and went into the break down by 18. The Hoyas are 1-6 since.

-At Pittsburgh, Syracuse didn’t score until nearly three minutes into the game, and scored 11 points in the first 12 minutes.

-Even at Rutgers, a game Syracuse won, it took a second-half comeback against one of the worst teams in the league to pull it out.

Only one team has beaten Connecticut at home this year – Georgetown. How did the Hoyas do it? They jumped out to 15-point lead in less than six minutes, leaving the Huskies stunned, and hung on until the end against a team that has since proven itself far superior than the Hoyas. If the Orange plans to carry out the upset it’s hoping for, that may be its only shot.

When asked about playing in a tough environment (and UConn will no doubt be a tough environment), players say that’s something they feed off of. They’ll have to feed quickly on Wednesday.

At the heart of the struggles has been the offense. Sure, the defense hasn’t been good, either. The Orange has given up triple-digit points in back-to-back road games. But a team that’s scoring the ball will play good defense, too. Even the quick-to-criticize Jim Boeheim didn’t think Syracuse played poor defense when it gave up 53 first-half points. It was more poor shooting and sloppy play.

But if Syracuse does find itself down on the road against a ranked team such as Connecticut, it needs to only look to a previous version of itself for inspiration. The Orange erased a 13-point deficit against Kansas (practically a home game for the Jayhawks). At Memphis, Syracuse overcame a double-digit first-half deficit.

So what’s the difference between then and now? Sure there are injuries – nothing sparks a rally quite like a red-hot Andy Rautins. Arinze Onuaku taking two shots per game doesn’t help the offensive effort, either. And yes, the competition within the Big East is tougher.

But this is more than a personnel issue.

After Saturday’s loss, a reporter pressed SU forward Paul Harris on the issue. What’s the difference between then and now? Is it the mentality?

He let out a sigh.

‘I don’t know,’ Harris said. ‘I don’t know what it is.’

It’s something Harris, and Syracuse, will have to figure out.

Kyle Austin is the sports editor at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. E-mail him at kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on February 8, 2009 at 12:00 pm