Jonny Flynn, left, is one of the few healthy Orangemen, and PC coach Keno Davis calls him a “big-time player.”

AP / Kevin Rivoli

PROVIDENCE — Jim Boeheim has taken good, great and even dominant teams into the Dunkin’ Donuts Center over his 32 years as the coach at Syracuse University. Tonight, he’ll bring in a beat-up group of Orangemen for a critical Big East game against Providence College.

The Orange have lost three of their last four games to slip to 5-3 in conference play.

Last week caused plenty of headaches. First came a sloppy final six minutes that led to an 18-point loss at No. 3 Pittsburgh.

Then poor shooting led to a home loss to No. 7 Louisville on Sunday. Late in that game, starting shooting guard Andy Rautins turned his ankle badly and did not return. He didn’t practice the last two days and is probably a scratch for tonight. Rautins may even skip the trip here if the team’s trainers feel he can benefit more by undergoing treatment on campus, a Syracuse athletic spokesman said.

A few hours after Sunday’s game, Arinze Onuaku, SU’s 6-foot-9, 270-pound center, complained of a sore knee that he apparently injured in the Louisville contest. He also hasn’t practiced in two days and has developed “soreness and swelling,” according to athletic spokesman Pete Moore.

“He may warm up and see how it feels. He’s a game-time decision,” Moore said.

Boeheim, of course, has seen it all in his Hall of Fame career. “We’ll show up. We’ll be there,” he said. “We’ve had some injuries and guys not around, but that’s part of life. You have to get through that.”

This is potentially big news for the Friars. PC has won two straight games and is in fifth place in the Big East after a solid 5-2 start but the Friars are thirsting for a win over an upper echelon team such as Syracuse. The 15th-ranked Orange may not be at full strength but PC coach Keno Davis is only concerned about piling up additional wins.

“They are definitely worthy of their national ranking,” said Davis. “There are a lot of different ways that they can beat you with their inside game, their outside shooting, their speed.”

Boeheim is used to playing short-handed. A year ago injuries devastated a team that finished 19-13 (9-9 Big East) and missed out on the NCAA Tournament. One of SU’s wins came on Jan. 27 when it outlasted Providence, 71-64, at the Carrier Dome. The Orange used six players in the game with Donte Greene and Jonny Flynn playing all 40 minutes and Paul Harris logging 39.

Syracuse may have only six regulars available tonight as well. Greene left school for the NBA after only one season and reserves Antonio Jardine (shin) and Mookie Jones (hip) are shelved for the year. Expect Flynn, Harris and Eric Devendorf to play nearly every minute against the Friars. If Onuaku cannot play, Boeheim’s three remaining players will be sophomore big man Rick Jackson, freshman Kris Joseph and little-used senior Kristof Ongenaet.

While Boeheim is certainly concerned about his team’s health and level of play, the one thing that he’s not stressing over is a schedule that can be unrelenting.

“You’re going to lose games in this league. It’s just the way it is,” he said. “There are only a couple teams that will lose two or three times. Everyone else will lose five, six, seven or many more.”

PC’s Davis said he was preparing for a full complement of Syracuse players and noted that Flynn, a sophomore point guard, is fully healthy and can cause major headaches.

“I think he’s a pro,” he said. “I don’t know if he can beat you on his own, but he’s a big-time player. It’s foolish to think that you can shut down a guy like that.”

Tonight’s game marks the start of a huge four-game stretch for Providence that features games against two other ranked foes (UConn and Villanova) and another (West Virginia) that is knocking on the door of the Top 25. The Friars let a marquee home win slip through their fingers 10 days ago against Marquette and Davis says the players are looking forward to more opportunities.

“They’re excited,” said Davis. “We’ve given ourselves a nice record so far and the pressure is off us right now. You’ll feel that pressure sometime in a league like this because everyone will catch a losing streak. Right now we can enjoy it and just try to keep things going in the right direction.”

kmcnamar@projo.com