It must have been quite a realization — an enlightenment, perhaps — for the Syracuse men’s basketball team that night in East Rutherford, N.J., 23 days ago.

That day, Jan. 8, SU’s Big East schedule began against Seton Hall. And that day — on which SU walked into Continental Airlines Arena flaunting the conference’s best offense with an 89-point average and walked out having posted 70 points — Syracuse (13-3, 4-2 Big East) learned a tough lesson.

Big East teams play defense. And they do it well, too.

Since Syracuse’s conference schedule began, the Orangemen have plummeted in Big East offensive categories. Things could get worse, too. No. 24 SU hosts No. 2 Pittsburgh (15-1, 5-0) — the Big East’s best defensive team — tomorrow night at 7 and Georgetown (10-6, 2-4) — fourth defensively in the conference — on Monday night.

The statistics deceive. A look at Syracuse’s overall numbers reveals an offensive juggernaut. The Orangemen rank third in the Big East in scoring, averaging 80.7 points.

Against Big East teams, though, the stats tell a different story. In the Big East, the Orangemen average 69 points, 13th in the conference. SU has failed to eclipse 65 points in three of its last four games.

A similar theme emerges at the individual level. Overall, freshman Carmelo Anthony ranks sixth in the Big East in scoring (21 points per game). Against Big East teams, he’s 17th (16 points).

Freshman Gerry McNamara bucks the trend, averaging 15.3 points in conference play compared to 14.8 overall. But thanks to a three-point performance against Miami on Sunday, he’s accounted for just 15 points in his last two games.

None of this surprises SU head coach Jim Boeheim.

“What do you want from freshmen?” Boeheim asked after SU lost to Rutgers, 68-65, on Wednesday night. “You don’t think it’s good to come in here and score 12 points and have one turnover (like McNamara did)? You don’t think 17 points and seven rebounds (Anthony’s totals) is good? These are hard games.”

Double-teams have made them even harder for Anthony. Against schedule-fillers like Colgate, Cornell and Binghamton, the 6-foot-8 Anthony easily used his athleticism to find open shots. Now, teams have played Anthony with physical guards or small forwards, denying him open looks.

“We have to continue to get other guys involved when they double-team him,” Boeheim said. “He’s getting better every game. He started out scoring so much, and the league is so much tougher.”

Focus on Anthony and McNamara has benefited forward Hakim Warrick (16.1 points per game) and centers Craig Forth and Jeremy McNeil.

Normally absent from the offense, the centers shined in Wednesday’s loss to Rutgers, combining for 18 points.

“We just recognized (the double-teams) and made the shots,” Forth said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do.”

They’ll have to do it again tomorrow against Pittsburgh, who beat the Orangemen, 73-60, on Jan. 18 at the Petersen Events Center. At that point, Syracuse was averaging 85.8 points, almost five points higher than its current average.

The Panthers’ 6-foot-4, 229-pound guard Jaron Brown contained Anthony.

“I don’t know if we stopped him last time,” said head coach Ben Howland, whose Panthers allowed Anthony to score 14. “He still got his. You just can’t let a guy like him go off for 30. He’s going to be an NBA player, and he’s a great talent. You just can’t let him score every time down the floor.”

He won’t if Pitt again forces the Orangemen into 20 turnovers. Last time, the Panthers converted 33 points off turnovers to Syracuse’s 11. Warrick, McNamara and Kueth Duany all lost the ball four times. Anthony and Josh Pace each coughed it up three times.

“If they’re not the best defensive team in the country,” Boeheim said of Pitt on Jan. 18, “they’re pretty close to it.”

Published on January 30, 2003 at 12:00 pm