It didn’t matter that Billy Edelin hadn’t even reached halfcourt.

He saw Hakim Warrick hustling down the court, ahead of the West Virginia player that had been guarding him, so Edelin tossed a perfect heave and Warrick had an easy basket.

Mark it down as one of the seven assists Edelin made in Saturday afternoon’s men’s basketball game at the Carrier Dome between Syracuse and West Virginia.

Edelin had season-highs in points (12), minutes played (30) and assists (7), leading No. 7 Syracuse over the Mountaineers, 72-64, before a crowd of 29,077. Syracuse has won 12 straight games and matched its best start in team history. Only twice has the Orange started 19-1, the last time in 2000.Hakim Warrick led the Orange (19-1, 6-0 Big East) with 22 points, 16 of which came in the first half. Gerry McNamara added 18 points on five 3-pointers in the second half after being shutout in the first.

While each of SU’s stars, Warrick and McNamara, became hot in different halves, Edelin’s play was consistent throughout. The junior set the tone for Syracuse in his best performance of the season.

‘(Billy) knows when to take advantage and get into open spaces,’ Boeheim said. ‘People don’t guard him, he’s going to make them pay.’

Edelin struggled through a nine-minute game against Georgetown on Tuesday, jawing with head coach Jim Boeheim on a few occasions and failing to score while turning the ball over. On Saturday, though, Edelin not only sparked the Orange offense off the bench with his shooting and assist-making ability, but he settled the offense down and enabled the Orange to come away with a close Big East victory.

‘He can get there and not only can he score and make matchup problems, but he makes great passes,’ Syracuse sophomore Terrence Roberts said. ‘He’s a great spark off the bench right now. The more time he gets, the better he’ll be.’

After Edelin found Warrick on the long halfcourt pass with 4:55 remaining, Syracuse led by 10 and appeared to be on the verge of blowing the game open.

But West Virginia (11-5, 1-4 Big East) responded with a quick six-point burst on 3-pointers by Patrick Beilein (team-high 17 points, five 3s) and J.D. Collins.

With just under two minutes remaining, West Virginia suddenly needed just two possessions to grab the lead. But after Josh Pace missed a routine floater in the lane, Warrick grabbed a huge offensive rebound and fed McNamara, who nailed a 3-pointer and extinguished the Mountaineers’ short flame.

‘Hak got the rebound and he didn’t try to force it back up,’ Boeheim said. ‘That’s a smart play. Not many guys make that play. Those are winning plays.’

Boeheim credited Edelin’s solid game to the open opportunities he received due to West Virginia’s constant double-teams of Warrick and McNamara. Edelin nailed a jumper from just inside the 3-point line early in the game, but also got into the lane and made high-percentage shots while manning the point guard position.

Edelin’s 17-minute second half, when he contributed seven assists, also helped McNamara find more open space.

Edelin said he doesn’t feel like he’s at the same level he was last year when he was consistently playing 30 to 35 minutes a game before leaving the team. But after playing 30 minutes against West Virginia and consecutive 20-plus minute performances against Seton Hall and Notre Dame to start conference play, Edelin is striding toward his old self the more he plays.

‘It’s not like nobody on my team knows what I can do,’ Edelin said. ‘I’ve done it before. But the more minutes you get out there, you get in a comfort level and get in sync.’

Published on January 23, 2005 at 12:00 pm