They’re both teams from Central New York that Syracuse hasn’t lost to in 30 years. Their names even sound the same, and they wear the same colors. But Wednesday’s game against Cornell at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome should pose a much greater challenge than what Syracuse experienced in its 86-51 win over Colgate Monday night.

‘It’s definitely going to be different,’ SU sophomore point guard Jonny Flynn said Monday of the upcoming matchup. ‘Cornell is an NCAA Tournament team. That says enough.’

Cornell returns four starters from a team that went 22-6 last year and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years. The Big Red went 14-0 in conference games to win the Ivy League, before losing to Stanford in the first round of the Tournament.

This year’s squad is 4-3, having lost to St. John’s, Siena and Indiana in the early going. Syracuse, meanwhile, is 7-0, and came in at No. 16 in this week’s AP poll.

After knocking off two ranked teams – then-No. 18 Florida and then-No. 22 Kansas last week at the CBE Classic – and putting together a 35-point blowout against Colgate, Syracuse’s biggest opponent could be overconfidence. But the outspoken Flynn thinks differently.

‘I think overconfidence is a good thing,’ Flynn said Monday. ‘You’ve got to kind of have a certain swagger about yourself and play the way you’re capable of. I think if we go out there thinking we can beat everybody, thinking we can blow teams out, that’s really going to help us out.’

Even though the Orange turned in one of its most convincing performances of the year against Colgate, head coach Jim Boeheim still wanted more. SU’s big lead allowed some younger players to see more court time. The head coach voiced his displeasure with some of their play, although he wouldn’t say specifically to whom he was referring.

Those players could see more time Wednesday if Syracuse can pull away with another early lead.

‘It was disappointing that some guys who could’ve used this opportunity to get better didn’t use the time,’ Boeheim said Monday. ‘That’s a time they should be using to get better, particularly our younger players. That was disappointing.’

The game will mark the end of a challenging stretch of eight games in 18 days to start the season. After Wednesday, Syracuse, and most other college basketball teams, take 10 days off for finals week. The Orange will pick back up with a Dec. 13 matchup against Long Beach State.

‘This is definitely a tough stretch,’ SU shooting guard Eric Devendorf said Monday. ‘We have eight games pretty close together, so a lot of the guys are tired. We haven’t had a day off yet, so I’m not saying we’re looking forward to the break, but it is going to be a relief to get a couple days off and rest our bodies. We have to go out here Wednesday against a good Cornell team and get a win.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on December 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm