Syracuse is one of the hottest teams in college basketball, but Jim Boeheim's team never seems to do things the easy way.

The Orange rarely dominates a game from start to finish. It often falls behind or gets itself involved in a much closer game than it should be involved in before coming through at the finish.

Two of its last three games entering the second week in February fit that description. It finished January barely escaping defeat against a one-win DePaul squad that led the Orange most of the way, and trailed in the second half against Cincinnati on Feb. 7 before rallying for the victory on the road.

But the Cincinnati win was also one of the most impressive of the season, because of who wasn't on the court when it really happened.

Wes Johnson spent much of the game in foul trouble, and picked up his fourth with 12:40 to play. At the time, the Orange trailed 46-43, a deficit that increased to six points at 49-43 with a Bearcat 3-pointer on the next possession.

After that, Syracuse dominated, finishing the game on a 28-5 run. With Johnson on the bench, it was his backup Kris Joseph (17 points) who was instrumental in the victory.

That, coupled with a Villanova loss to Georgetown, gave Syracuse a percentage-points lead in the Big East standings. Both teams are tied in the loss column, and the Wildcats come to Syracuse on Feb. 27 for a game that could decide the regular-season title and the top seed in the conference tournament.

Copyright (C) 2010 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.