SYRACUSE - This is the time of year Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim tries to figure out what works best for his Orange. So far, he's still searching for the right formula.

The Orange (4-2), who beat Siena 96-77 on Friday night to stop the first two-game losing streak in the month of November in Boeheim's 30 years as head coach, meet Manhattan on Wednesday night. And just because the Jaspers are 0-2 doesn't mean a thing at this stage of the season.

“All these teams that we're playing are good,” Boeheim said. “There's really no easy games anymore. I'm disappointed in the way our big guys are playing. We have to get better defensively. We've got a few games to get there.”

Wednesday's game will be the third of an important seven-game homestand that started with a 74-69 loss to Bucknell. Syracuse also lost its previous game to then-No. 14 Florida in the semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic at Madison Square Garden.

“We have to win out all these games for the simple fact that down the stretch we're going to have a tough Big East Conference,” junior forward Terrence Roberts said. “When we're looking to get the votes to get into the NCAA tournament, if we need votes to get in, they're going to be looking at these games. We can't lose.”

The two early losses sent the Orange plummeting out of the AP Top 25 from their No. 17 ranking. That alone promises to stoke the emotions.

“That's motivation, but we've just got to go out and play hard,” said freshman guard Eric Devendorf, who had eight points, three assists and one turnover against Siena in his first career start, getting the nod over struggling junior Louie McCroskey. “Every game's important, obviously. Maybe the Bucknell game we didn't think was that important and we lost. We've just got to take every game seriously so we can get to the NCAA tournament. Obviously, that's not a given right now.”

Syracuse beat Siena mainly by going 12-for-26 on 3-pointers, and senior guard Gerry McNamara led the way. He broke out of a shooting slump, hitting six 3s and scoring a season-high 22 points.

“We have to go in with our heads high, be positive about coming off a win,” said McNamara, who was 11-for-45 on 3-pointers, including an 0-for-10 outing against Cornell, before breaking through last game. “If we improve and get better over this stretch, it will help. We were fortunate enough to play good offense last game. If we didn't, we would have been in a lot closer battle.”

The Orange split the last two games because they weren't active enough defensively, allowing too many layups without the likes of Hakim Warrick, Craig Forth and Josh Pace in the lineup. And in the loss to Bucknell, the 6-foot-9 Roberts pulled down only one rebound in the second half while 6-11 center Darryl Watkins didn't get any despite playing all but two minutes of the period.

“If we're active, we're stopping people,” McNamara said. “That's got to be the focus coming up. This is where you really mold as a team. You really come together and you see what you're going to be about for the rest of the year. We have to come together as a team and improve every day.”

“We dug our hole, we have to try to get out of it,” added junior forward Demetris Nichols, who leads the Orange in scoring at 15 points per game. “We've got the Big East coming up soon. We have to make a good impression.”

Notes: The Syracuse men's basketball team played its first-ever regular-season game in the Carrier Dome on Nov. 29, 1980. Tony Bruin led the Orange with 21 points and Leo Rautins had 16 points as the Orange defeated Columbia 108-81. ... Syracuse leads the series against Manhattan 19-7 and is 10-1 at home. The last time these two teams met was Dec. 17, 2003 at the Carrier Dome, and Syracuse won 69-63.