NEW YORK — Virginia Tech placed Syracuse in an unfamiliar position on Wednesday.

Trailing at halftime, the circumstances for the Orange were much different than they were in its four blowout victories to start the season. SU held double-digit halftime leads in all of those and was able to empty the bench in each game, even giving the walk-ons some time.

Not against the Hokies.

‘This is a good game for us,’ SU forward C.J. Fair said after SU’s 69-58 win. ‘It tested us, see where our heart was at and see how good a team we are.’

Syracuse was able to figure things out in the second half to pull away from Virginia Tech. But SU will face another test from a power-conference opponent on Friday, as the No. 5 Orange (5-0) take on Stanford (5-0) in the NIT Season Tip-Off championship at 5 p.m. in Madison Square Garden. The Cardinal dominated Oklahoma State in an 82-67 win in the semifinals, and is off to a strong start to the season after being picked to finish sixth in the Pac-12 preseason poll.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim said after Wednesday’s game that the Orange couldn’t learn a lot from its four wins — all by at least 24 points — to start the season. Performance against good teams is a more useful barometer of improvement.

For the second straight game, SU faces a tricky opponent as it tries to bring home an NIT Season Tip-Off title for the first time since 2001.

‘They’re a good team,’ Boeheim said of Stanford. ‘They’ve got guys that can shoot it, handle it. They’re a really good basketball team. That’s what we need. We need another — it will be another tough game for us.’

In the four blowout victories in the Carrier Dome, Boeheim was able to give solid chunks of playing time to the top 10 guys in the Orange rotation. After Syracuse’s 78-53 win over Fordham in its season opener, Boeheim said all of those main players would continue get time because they’re all capable of performing.

But when it came down to a tough spot, he said the hot hands would remain on the court.

Against Virginia Tech, that was the case. On the Madison Square Garden stage, it was the youngsters who took a seat. Freshman forward Rakeem Christmas played three minutes. Freshman guard Michael Carter-Williams played two.

For the majority of the second half, three starters — Kris Joseph, Brandon Triche and Fab Melo — combined with Fair and Dion Waiters to create the most formidable attack against the Hokies.

‘We’ve had four easy games, and when you get that first tough game, it’s always going to be difficult,’ Boeheim said. ‘And I thought that again we went with the veterans in the second half, guys that have been there, and I thought they did a tremendous job.’

Unlike previous opponents, Virginia Tech could compete with Syracuse athletically in long spurts. After Melo came up with an emphatic block on a Dorenzo Hudson shot inside, the Orange pushed the ball in transition, the way it usually does off a defensive rebound.

But as Triche went up for a dunk, Jarell Eddie met him at the rim and muscled Triche back, stuffing the dunk.

Fortunately for SU, the rebound fell to Fair for an easy putback. But it was a moment this Syracuse team didn’t have to experience in its comfortable wins before Wednesday.

‘I think we need these tough games,’ Triche said. ‘I think we responded pretty well. First half was pretty tough. But I think we’re a team of runs. In the second half we got it going a little bit.’

Stanford isn’t ranked, nor did the Cardinal receive any votes in the latest Top 25 poll, but it will be an opponent similar to the Hokies in stature. Forward Josh Owens scored 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting in Stanford’s win over Oklahoma State in the semifinals on Wednesday, and the Cardinal’s starting five combined to make 7-of-12 3-pointers.

The Orange is a week away from its first true test to date — No. 10 Florida on Dec. 2. The matchup with Stanford provides one more chance to get better before then.

‘You don’t get a lot better by beating people by 30 points,’ Boeheim said. ‘I’m glad we played well. We really played pretty well. But you don’t get better in those games.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on November 24, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr