MBB | TWO GOOD: Devendorf, Rautins combine for 46 points in blowout of Seton Hall

Eric Devendorf walked across the Syracuse locker room, wrapped in a towel, after his team had just blown out Seton Hall, 100-76. When he stepped to his locker the first thing he checked was his cell phone. What he found was about 90 text messages of encouragement from friends and family.

"(They were) just like welcome back and glad to have you back and stuff like that," Devendorf said. "And just a bunch of friends saying it's good to see you out there playing again. And you know it's great to have the support of the Syracuse community and my team and coaches."

The junior guard returned to the court for the first time since being suspended by the Syracuse University Appeals Board on Dec. 19 for an altercation involving him and a female student. In his return, he finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and was 3-of-6 from deep.

He also had the support of his team, especially fellow guard Andy Rautins, who finished with a game high 26 points. The two-headed backcourt monster was the foundation of a lights out shooting performance in which the Orange (13-1, 1-0) bested the Pirates (9-4, 0-1) by finishing the game shooting 57 percent from the field and 55 percent from long range.

"Andy Rautins and Eric Devendorf," sophomore Jonny Flynn said when asked what sparked the Orange's steamrolling of Seton Hall. "Those were two people who came out there and picked us up. When they hit shots like that they make my job easier and make me go out there and not have to worry about pressing offensively."

With Rautins finding the hoop, it was apparent early that Flynn's offense wouldn't be needed. Trailing 2-0 at the start, the junior got SU on the board with the first of his seven 3's. The performance came just one game after Rautins made a career high 9 3-pointers against Coppin St.

Rautins made 24 3-pointers in his first 12 games. In the last two has dropped 16. Prior to his career night against Coppin St. the 3-point specialist was shooting 31 percent (24-for-78) from deep. In the last two games Rautins is shooting at a 62 percent (16-for-26) clip.

"(The basket's) feeling pretty big," Rautins said. "Everything's feeling good and in rhythm. And my pre-shot preparation is down so whenever that happens and I square to the basket it's feeling pretty good."

For Devendorf, it took a bit longer to catch fire. Devendorf checked into the game with 14:52 left in the first half and promptly missed his first two attempts, including an air ball with his first shot, and turned the ball over once. After that, he shot 8-of-13 from deep and 3-of-5 from long range.

His first points of the game came on a 3-pointer that gave SU a 23-19 lead. It also a ignited a 16-4 run in which Devendorf and Rautins made five of the Orange's next six buckets - all from beyond the arc - to cushion the lead to 14 and got the largest crowd of the season, 23,152, off its feet.

"If we're hitting shots like that it's going to be pretty tough to beat us," Devendorf said. "We didn't have (forward) Paul Harris the entire second half and that says a lot about our team."

The Orange didn't have Harris after the forward went up for a block at the end of the first half and severely cut his right ring finger on the rim. He didn't play in the second half, but head coach Jim Boeheim said he expects Harris to practice Wednesday.

The domination by the backcourt duo kept the Orange without another one of its backcourt stalwarts, Flynn. The point guard saw the court for 24 minutes, eight of which came in the second half. It was tied for the fewest minutes he's played all season. Flynn had played all 40 minutes in the last two contests against No. 23 Memphis and Coppin State. Flynn still managed to fill up the stat sheet scoring 14 points with five assists.

Even without Harris and Flynn for the majority of the second, the Orange still put up triple figures against a Big East foe for the first time since the 1994-95 season. It was in part because Syracuse finished with five players in double figures: Rautins, Devendorf, Flynn, Rick Jackson with 14, and Arinze Onuaku who finished with 11.

But Tuesday belonged to Devendorf and Rautins, who both suffered season-ending knee injuries last year. Now, they are finally emerging as parts of the dynamic backcourt many envisioned at the beginning of the season.

"I think we said at the beginning of the year you know Eric and Andy missed the last year, the whole year for Andy, most of it for Eric," Boeheim said. "It would take them until a certain point in the season to get their legs back and get comfortable out there. I think we can safely say they are in that position now.

mibonner@syr.edu