Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was ailing after prostate surgery. Then he watched his Orangemen lose two straight games and suddenly the operation didn't seem so bad.

        So, on Thursday night, Boeheim, still sore and unable to yell as loudly as he'd like, returned to the bench after missing the first three games of his 26-year coaching career.

        The No. 18 Orangemen responded, beating South Florida 80-68.

        “I was getting sicker and sicker watching us play,” Boeheim said. “I figured I couldn't get any sicker being here. I feel good. I coughed a couple of times, and that's when it hurts. If I didn't cough, I wouldn't have much pain. The doctors gave me a clean bill of health. It's just a matter of taking it slow.”

        Boeheim was not expected to return until Dec. 29, but those embarrassing losses to North Carolina State and Georgia Tech changed his mind.

        “I was really concerned because when I got the Hofstra tape (Dec. 4) it was the day of the operation,” Boeheim said. “We were really horrendous, and it just sent a bad message to me.”

        In those losses, the Orangemen allowed 89 points per game, 51.2 percent shooting and committed 30 turnovers. On this night, they had 12 steals and just five turnovers in the first half, when the game was decided.

        “We just made a decision for ourselves to come out and play defense,” said Preston Shumpert, who scored 22 points and broke Syracuse's career 3-point record. “Whenever we're active and get our hands on balls and are challenging people, we've had good success.”

        Shumpert hit a pair of 3-pointers to pass Lawrence Moten and become Syracuse's career leader with 198. Kueth Duany had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and DeShaun Williams had 20 points and nine assists for the Orangemen (10-2).

        Altron Jackson led South Florida (7-2) with 22 points, B.B. Waldon had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Will McDonald 13 points and 10 rebounds.

        Syracuse played nearly flawless defense in the first half, held a 14-2 edge on the offensive glass, and forced 17 turnovers. Waldon, who was averaging nearly 16 points a game, took one shot and scored one point as South Florida fell behind 40-22 at the break.

        “We were rushing things on offense and we weren't blocking out on the offensive boards,” Waldon said. “That really hurt us in the first half.”

        After South Florida began the game by hitting 5 of 6 shots — including a pair of 3s by Reggie Kohn and another by Jackson — to take a 14-13 lead, the Orangemen clamped down and held the Bulls scoreless for more than six minutes.

        Williams hit a pair of 3s to key a 14-2 run that put Syracuse ahead 27-16 with 6:16 left.

        “They shot 44 shots in the first half and we shot 21,” South Florida coach Seth Greenberg said. “You're not going to win doing that. We knew we needed to attack the zone. We knew what we wanted to do against it. At times we looked like we knew what we were doing, but at times we looked totally incompetent.”

        After McDonald hit a jumper to stop the streak, the Orangemen finished the half with a 13-4 spurt. The Bulls fought hard in the second half and threatened in the final minutes as Syracuse fizzled.

        A basket and two free throws by McDonald cut the lead to 59-52 with 6:04 to go. But with Boeheim standing and inciting the crowd to cheer, Hakim Warrick made two free throws and Shumpert converted a three-point play to put the Orangemen up 64-52 with 5:27 left and the Bulls never got closer than 10 again.

        “We took a step forward tonight,” Shumpert said. “Our last two games we were stagnant on defense and sort of rushing things on offense. I think we got back in the right direction tonight.”

        SOUTH FLORIDA (7-2) — Waldon 6-11 1-7 14, Baxter 0-3 0-0 0, Brittian 0-2 0-0 0, McDonald 5-10 3-4 13, Kohn 4-10 0-0 12, Bryant 0-2 0-0 0, Swift 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson 8-17 3-4 22, Morris 0-0 0-2 0, Leather 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 3-7 1-3 7, Bernard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-64 8-20 68.

        SYRACUSE (10-2) — Warrick 3-5 2-2 8, Shumpert 7-17 6-8 22, Forth 1-4 0-0 2, Duany 5-15 7-11 18, Williams 4-17 9-10 20, Pace 1-2 0-0 2, Thues 3-5 0-0 6, McNeil 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 25-69 24-31 80.

        Halftime—Syracuse 40, South Florida 22. 3-Point goals—South Florida 8-24 (Kohn 4-10, Jackson 3-9, Waldon 1-2, Swift, 0-1, Baxter 0-2), Syracuse 6-22 (Williams 3-10, Shumpert 2-8, Duany 1-2, Pace 0-1, Thues 0-1). Fouled out—Waldon. Rebounds—South Florida 47 (Waldon 11), Syracuse 46 (Duany 10). Assists—South Florida 16 (Waldon 6), Syracuse 17 (Williams 9). Technical foul— Brown. Total Fouls—South Florida 25, Syracuse 17. A— 14,386.

        No.5 Virginia stops Hoyas
       WASHINGTON — Chris Williams had 17 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night as No.5 Virginia beat No.16 Georgetown 61-55 in the John Thompson Classic.

        Virginia (7-0) won because it won the first half, taking a 32-24 lead at the break and keeping the lead between four points and 12 points the rest of the game.
        VIRGINIA (7-0) — Mason 5-15 6-6 16, Hall 2-5 2-2 6, Mathis 0-5 0-0 0, Williams 8-13 0-0 17, Watson 6-15 0-1 12, Jenifer 0-0 0-0 0, Harper 0-0 0-0 0, Clark 0-2 0-0 0, Brown 4-7 0-0 10. Totals 25-62 8-9 61.

        GEORGETOWN (9-2) — Braswell 2-14 2-3 7, Samnick 3-5 1-2 7, Riley 1-6 2-2 4, Sweetney 5-7 0-0 10, Wilson 2-8 3-5 7, Freeman 0-1 0-0 0, Hall 2-5 2-2 8, Thomas 0-1 0-2 0, Bethel 5-9 1-4 12. Totals 20-56 11-20 55.

        Halftime—Virginia 32, Georgetown 24. 3-Point goals— Virginia 3-9 (Brown 2-2, Williams 1-2, Mason 0-5), Georgetown 4-18 (Hall 2-3, Bethel 1-3, Braswell 1-8, Thomas 0-1, Riley 0-3). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Virginia 49 (Watson 13), Georgetown 30 (Sweetney 7). Assists—Virginia 10 (Mason 6), Georgetown 11 (Braswell 4). Total fouls—Virginia 19, Georgetown 18. A—18,789.
        No.11 Arizona 76,
       Oregon State 73

        CORVALLIS, Ore. — Channing Frye had 18 points and 16 rebounds as the Wildcats (6-2) won in the Pac-10 conference opener for both teams.

        Frye, starting at center because fellow freshman Isaiah Fox was benched for breaking a team rule, made all 10 of his free throws. He entered the game shooting 60 percent from the line.

        Phillip Ricci led Oregon State (5-4) with 19 points but missed two key free throws in the final minute.
        Louisville 73,
       Tennessee 72

        LOUISVILLE — Reece Gaines sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key with four seconds left to win it for the Cardinals. He finished with 22 points.

        The Cardinals (8-1) outscored the Volunteers (5-4) 9-2 in the final 32.5 seconds for their seventh straight win.

        GEORGIA: Assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr. has admitted that his media-guide biography exaggerates his playing career and academic honors.

        The Georgia media guide says Harrick, who joined the Georgia staff in May, played on two Pepperdine teams that made the NCAA Tournament and was twice a member of the West Coast Academic All-Conference Team.

        But Harrick, 35, made one NCAA Tournament appearance at Pepperdine and missed another because he went to junior college to improve his grades. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he received a different academic award, not the one listed in the bio.

        The Journal-Constitution reported the inaccuracies Thursday, after examining the backgrounds of coaches at major colleges in the state.

        Harrick said he had no idea how the wrong information got in the guide. But Tim Hix, spokesman for the basketball team, said Harrick supplied the bio.

        “I basically cleared all the blanks, made a printout and told him to handwrite it, so he did,” Hix told the newspaper.

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