James Theus isn’t a psychic. But before Syracuse and Binghamton tipped off Sunday afternoon, he had a premonition about Preston Shumpert.

‘In the pregame shoot-arounds he just wasn’t missing,’ Theus said. ‘I just knew. I had a gut feeling that he was going to come out and perform like that.’

Shumpert matched a career high with 36 points to lead the Orangemen in a 103-56 rout of Binghamton at the Carrier Dome on Sunday afternoon. While Theus and his teammates may have predicted Shumpert’s explosion, the senior never saw it coming. Shumpert lifted weights before practice Saturday and said he felt sluggish before the game.

‘To tell you the truth, I felt the weights in my legs a little bit, and I didn’t think I was going to have a good day shooting,’ Shumpert said. ‘I stayed available and stayed active and just tried to create things for myself and my teammates, and I had a good day today.’

Shumpert wasted no time getting started, stealing a pass, taking it down the court and finishing with and emphatic slam to give put the Orangemen ahead 2-0 just 14 seconds into the game. He shot 13 of 18 from the field and 5 of 9 from three-point range before being removed with just under 10 minutes left in the second half.

Not bad for a guy feeling sore.

‘You can’t really prepare for a guy like that,’ head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘People will tell you how he shoots or where he shoots, but sometimes you’ve got to see it to believe it.’

Binghamton believes it all right. The Bearcats did stay in the game early, trailing 16-13 with 11:46 to go in the first half after letting the Orangemen jump out to a quick 8-0 lead.

But Shumpert and the Orangemen proved too much for the Bearcats, which are playing their first season of Division I basketball. SU went on a 21-0 run lasting nearly six minutes after that to put the game out of reach. Shumpert contributed eight during the run, including two threes.

‘We’ve been waiting all year for a game like that (from Shumpert),’ shooting guard Kueth Duany said. ‘You’ve got have so much respect for him. He can put up points in a hurry.

‘When he had like 26 points and I was on the bench, I was like, ‘Wow, when did he get 26?’ It was crazy. He put points up in a hurry.’

Shumpert had some help though too. Syracuse shot the ball well from behind the arc and from the field. The Orangemen made 59 percent of their shots from the field compared to the Bearcats’ 32 percent. Syracuse also made 9 of 16 three-pointers.

After the game, SU expressed its respect for the young Binghamton program. Bearcats center Nick Billings played particularly well, giving centers Craig Forth, Jeremy McNeil and Billy Celuck all they could handle. The three Syracuse centers combined for 10 fouls while trying to guard the freshman Billings.

Now Syracuse turns its attention toward Wednesday’s matchup with Michigan State in the Preseason NIT semifinals. Syracuse expects a much more physical game, especially from the Spartan forwards.

Theus and his teammates may have easily predicted Sunday’s romp of Binghamton. But Boeheim has a different prediction for Wednesday’s game.

‘We’re going to play two very good teams,’ Boeheim said, ‘and we’re going to learn more about our team against top competition.’

Published on November 17, 2001 at 12:00 pm