After weeks of publicly begging for better production from his four sophomores, Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim finally got his wish – from one of the four, at least.

Forward Terrence Roberts scored a career-high 20 points off the bench on an eight-for-eight night from the field as SU barely held off Hofstra, 80-75, Thursday at the Carrier Dome. He was the team’s second highest scorer behind senior forward Hakim Warrick’s 29, and he pulled down nine rebounds – seven of which came on offense.

‘This was a perfect game for Terrence,’ Boeheim said. ‘This is the way he’s capable of playing.’

Before the game, Roberts was offered some added inspiration in the form of an index card that assistant coach Rob Murphy had stuffed in his locker. ‘Bring energy off the bench,’ it read.

Roberts did just that as the first player off the bench for the Orange – and it didn’t take long for him to make his presence felt. He scored four of the team’s first six points and eight of its first 12, keeping SU close to a Hofstra team that quickly caught fire from outside the three-point arc.

By the end of the first half, Roberts had scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds in 17 minutes of play.

‘We told him at halftime that we were in the game because of him,’ junior point guard Gerry McNamara said.

His performance convinced Boeheim to give him the starting nod in the second half, and Roberts stayed on the floor for the rest of the game.

‘That right there just boosted my confidence right up,’ Roberts said.

He responded with a repeat of his first half performance, crashing the offensive boards and slamming his teammates’ missed outside shots down with enormous, crowd-pleasing dunks. As the crowd shouted with glee, so did Roberts, screaming like a madman and pointing at the fans after his dunks.

‘I was trying to get the crowd into the game,’ Roberts said. ‘As long as the crowd’s in the game, my team’s in the game.’

There were some slip-ups along the way, though. He committed three turnovers, swatted away a lay up on a fast break and was called twice for goaltending.

The error Roberts said he regretted most was his offensive goaltending violation at the end of the first half, dunking home a Josh Pace floater as it rested on the rim, about to fall in. It was the second offensive goaltending he had committed in as many games. And Boeheim let him hear it, screaming in his ear as the team headed off the court at halftime.

‘He said he’d kill me if I did that again,’ Roberts said. ‘(But) it’s my instinct to go up there and grab everything above the rim.’

By the end of the night, though, Roberts had regained his coach’s confidence. Boeheim openly gushed about Roberts’ performance. It was Roberts’ no-look dish to set up a Warrick dunk that clinched the game for the Orange, Boeheim said.

‘He made a great pass to Hak for that finish,’ Boeheim said. ‘One thing he is is he’s a very good passer. It was a great play, no question about it.’

After the game, his teammates offered similar praise. Sophomore guard Louie McCroskey expressed how happy he was to see Roberts emerge from behind the Warrick’s shadow. Warrick noted the defensive pressure Roberts helped take away from him on the low post. McNamara even yelled his congratulations across the locker room.

‘T, you went eight-for-eight?’ McNamara shouted after a reporter recited the forward’s stat line.

Roberts just smiled and shrugged it off.

‘He’s never been eight-for-eight in his life,’ McNamara said. ‘He was incredible tonight.’

And Roberts knew it.

‘I played a good game,’ he said. ‘But I know I can play better.’

Then he laughed.

‘The game I’ll be most proud of will be the game when (Boeheim) doesn’t yell at me for the whole game.’

Published on January 4, 2005 at 12:00 pm