SYRACUSE -With all of one full season under his belt, sophomore Paul Harris is now Syracuse#'s grizzled veteran.

As Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins fill up space on the end of the Orange bench with matching torn ACLs, Harris has the most on-court experience of any player on the men's basketball team.

Other than Arinze Onuaku, Harris is the only one with Big East experience.

So when Syracuse opens conference play today against St. John's, many of the young guns will be following Harris' example.

“Paul has been walking us through it and it is all about playing hard,” freshman Scoop Jardine said of the Big East schedule.

“The mistakes that we are making in (nonconference play), we cannot make in the Big East. So we have to play hard and play smart.”

And there's probably no player better built for the rugged Big East schedule than Harris, whose 6-5, 228-pound frame is chiseled out of concrete. But for the rest of the team, the level of play in-conference may come as a shock. No amount of game film can prepare the players for the physicality of an 18-game slate. They'll soon realize that stamina is just as important as talent down the stretch.

Orange coach Jim Boeheim knows something about the rigors of conference play and he believes this team is as tested as any he's had.

“They know it's going to be much more difficult, they understand that and they're just going to have to wade into it,” Boeheim said. “I think they have a good understanding of how much tougher it's going to be,but we've had very tough games. We've gone into the Big East many, many years with half the toughness we've had now.”

The main reason why Syracuse has played in so many close games is their defense. The Orange have struggled at that end of the court, as they're allowing opponents to score over 75 points per game. Opponents are also shooting better than 38 percent from behind the arc.

“I think we are one of the most talented teams in the country,” freshman Donte Greene said. “We can all have a big game; we can all score on any given night. Now we have to prove we can play defense and we will be alright.”

Boeheim admits he's been surprised by the Orange's offensive efficiency. Syracuse is shooting well over 50 percent from the floor and have scored 80 or more points in all but four outings.

While the defense may never get to the level Boeheim desires, SU's potent offense could be difficult to match for many Big East teams.

Syracuse is tied with West Virginia in points per game (85.8) while there are currently three teams averaging under 70 per game.

Even defensive-minded teams like Georgetown and Pittsburgh could struggle to contain the Orange offense.

“I think our guys are more offensive-suited,they're more offensive-minded,” Boeheim said. “Defense is harder for young guys,they've never played it before. They've always played offense, but they've never played defense until they've come to college.”

And SU is packed with young guys. Four freshman play prominent minutes - Greene,Jardine,Jonny Flynn and Rick Jackson - and junior center Onuaku played limited minutes in his freshman campaign.

But Harris is convinced this team is older on the court than they are on paper.

“A lot of people say we're young but the young guys have been leading us,” Harris said.

Greene is third in the Big East in scoring (18.8 points) while Flynn is 15th in scoring (14.8) and third in assists (6.17 per game).

Flynn also hit a game-winning 3-pointer in just his second career game.

“Jonny hit that shot and Donte's been leading us in scoring,” Harris said.

“I don't care about our age,we've got enough talent to beat anybody. If guys step up,I don't think anybody can stop us.”

On TV

• St. John's at Syracuse, 7 p.m., TW26