ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. –– Staring coldly at the box score during his stern 15-second opening statement, Paul Hewitt touched on what he felt killed Georgia Tech in its loss to Syracuse.

Yes, the man sitting to the right of him, Brian Oliver, exploded for 32 points. But Syracuse’s play with its forwards and centers was the real story of the afternoon. That’s what the Georgia Tech head coach felt won the game.

Rick Jackson won the game.

‘They decided to force their physical will on us,’ Hewitt said. ‘We didn’t match it. We didn’t match it at all.’

Jackson was at the forefront of the Orange’s physical style of play Hewitt harped on. The senior power forward registered another double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds while playing in all 40 minutes Saturday. The effort, when coupled with his 12 rebounds in SU’s semifinal win over Michigan Friday, gave Jackson 26 total rebounds in the Legends Classic. It also gave him the tournament’s MVP award.

Jackson wasn’t surprised by the honor, much like Hewitt wasn’t surprised at what lost the game for the Yellow Jackets. Hewitt said he thought the game would fall in Syracuse’s favor once he saw that his players weren’t fouling Jackson and the Orange’s other big men. The Yellow Jackets head coach instructed his team to force SU’s bigs to go to the line out of a perceived lack of free-throw touch.

‘Jackson was 0-for-1. (Fab) Melo was 0-for-2. And (Baye Moussa) Keita didn’t even attempt a free throw.’ Hewitt said. ‘So we fouled a lot based upon how the whistles were going. But at least put those guys at the foul line to see what they can do.’

Jackson said he expected the award.

‘No, I’m not surprised at all,’ Jackson said. ‘You go hard — when you give 110 percent, you have got to get good results.’

Giving 100 percent is exactly what Jackson did all tournament. And the results came. Playing 78 of 80 total minutes in SU’s two wins was enough to feel confident about stealing the MVP award from Kris Joseph. Joseph led SU with 22 and 19 points in each of the two wins.

But Jackson was the grit that led SU to the glory.

In his eyes, all of those 78 minutes were hard earned. Especially the 40 he played in the championship, without a break. The minutes full of reckless sacrifice underneath the basket.

‘I just go out there, really trying to put my body on the line,’ Jackson said. ‘This tournament has been crazy. A lot of big guys. A lot of pushing and grabbing. But you have got to keep fighting, pushing with it. And get positive results.’

The positive results that were yielded for SU came in the form of 80 total points Saturday. Thirty-four of those points came in the paint, where Jackson dominated Georgia Tech starting center Daniel Miller all night. Miller ended the game scoreless.

And 19 of those points came via the fastbreak or off turnovers. In an up-and-down game, action on the break was plentiful. But it wasn’t limited to the likes of SU guard Scoop Jardine and Georgia Tech’s three starting guards — the Yellow Jackets’ strength.

Jackson stayed with the pace as well, throwing down several dunks, including a game-clinching alley-oop from Jardine just under the two-minute mark.

The rebounds Hewitt glared at on the box score, though, were the statistics that started it all. Jackson was the reason for the rebounds. Hewitt and Jardine acknowledged that.

‘I’m going to credit our big guys,’ Jardine said. ‘Once again, Rick was getting rebounds that were allowing us to get on the break.’

aolivero@syr.edu

 

Published on November 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm