A 'CUSE FOR CONCERN

It was Saturday night when Stanley Robinson ate some bad Chinese food and as a result, got a stomach bug. Tonight against Syracuse, Robinson is supposed to defend Syracuse's talented forward Paul Harris (13.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg).

"I know Paul. Me and Paul have been playing basketball since we were in 10th grade of high school. I know he doesn't have a jump shot," Robinson joked.

Five days since that Chinese food, Robinson simply said that he feels all right, and he'll be ready to match-up against Syracuse's forward Paul Harris when No. 22 Syracuse (18-6, 6-5 Big East) takes on No. 1 UConn (22-1, 10-1) tonight at 7 p.m. in Gampel Pavilion (ESPN).

"Stanley has experience with length," said coach Jim Calhoun. "Paul Harris is a hard match-up for the whole league. I think [Robinson] will help us."

For Robinson, coach Jim Calhoun and almost all the Huskies, the UConn-Syracuse rivalry has deep roots that stretch all the way back to the 1980s.

"We look forward to a tough game against Syracuse and it's probably the rivalry we have," Calhoun said. "Over a 20-year period, beating Syracuse has probably been the number one thing we wanted to do. I'm looking forward to having Jim [Boeheim] come here. Jim loves Gampel."

When UConn has been the top-ranked team in the country, the Huskies' record is 38-7 with two of those seven losses coming at the hands of Syracuse.

Since the two teams started playing each other in 1956, Syracuse leads the series 47-35, but has never won at Gampel.

"It's going to be real fun," Robinson said. "We're going to get up and down the court. Both of these teams like to push it, there's a lot of emotion, a lot of physical play and chatter on the court. It's always been a rivalry. I'm excited for it and I'll be ready to play."

Syracuse comes into Wednesday's game having lost four of its last five games to Pittsburgh, Louisville, Providence and Villanova. The only team the Orange has beaten is West Virginia.

UConn managed to retain the top-ranking on the country for the second straight week and has won 11 games in a row. The Huskies have also beaten all of the teams that Syracuse has recently lost to, with the exception of Pittsburgh.

UConn's one loss came to Georgetown, a team that Syracuse also lost to earlier this season.

With the oddities of each Big East team's in-conference wins and losses, Calhoun is not concerning himself with the numbers.

"Being No. 1 a second week is nice," Calhoun said. "But I don't even know who the best team in the country is. I don't know who the best team in the Big East is."

The match-up against UConn will feature a team who runs its offense in the same fashion as Calhoun does - an up-beat, fast paced style.

"[Eric] Devendorf, [Jonny] Flynn, right through the whole team, I think [Syracuse] is the most explosive offensive team who can match our quickness," Calhoun said.

Flynn and Devendorf lead the Orange in scoring at 17.2 and 15.5 points per game, respectively.

Jerome Dyson is scheduled to start tonight's game after being stepped on by Hasheem Thabeet in Saturday's win over Michigan. Dyson took a charge on the defensive end and as he was on the floor, Thabeet accidently stepped on his chest.

"I don't have any pain right now," Dyson said. "I wore some chest pads yesterday in practice but luckily I didn't get hit. Everybody's joking about it, about how I didn't get crushed in the game."

Earlier this week, Thabeet was named the National and Big East Player of the Week for his 31 point, 23 rebound and 10 block performance in two games last week. In that stretch, Thabeet was 10-of-13 from the floor and 11-of-13 from the stripe.