As Carmelo Anthony trotted out of the Carrier Dome tunnel Saturday, he paused and scanned the stands.

‘This ain’t 30,000,’ he thought to himself.

By tip-off, Anthony had changed his mind.

‘I started looking, and I was like, ‘Whoa, damn,’ ‘ Anthony said after SU beat Notre Dame, 82-80. ‘Then they announced it, and I was like, ‘Wow!’ ‘

All 32,116 spectators left thinking the same thing. In fact, they’ve left with such jubilant thoughts every game this season, because the No. 15 Orangemen (17-4, 8-3 Big East) have compiled a 14-0 home record. St. John’s will test the perfect mark tonight at 7.

Against Notre Dame, the crowd stretched well behind the blue curtain that divides the Dome for basketball. Not a speck of the silver benches could be seen in the lower deck, and standing students jammed the section behind the basket near the SU bench.

The SU faithful formed the nation’s largest on-campus crowd since 1996. They also broke the 2002-03 mark Syracuse had set Feb. 1 against Pittsburgh with a crowd of 30,303.

This marks the first time since the 1994-1995 season that SU has attracted more than 30,000 twice in one season.

‘The Carrier Dome is a tough place to play,’ Anthony said. ‘If we come out here and play our game, we will win all of our home games. Plus with the crowd, that’s like a sixth man on the court with us.’

Five Orangemen seem to be doing just fine. In its five home Big East victories, SU averaged 80.4 points. By comparison, SU scores 67.3 in conference road games.

‘If you’re gonna win in here, you’ve got to out-offense them,’ Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said Saturday. ‘We got to 80 today, and it wasn’t quite enough. You’re not going to stop them or turn them over. They have too many skilled offensive players.’

This spells bad news for St. John’s, which averages 68.8 points on the road and thrives on forcing turnovers.

With a 5.7 turnover margin, the Red Storm leads the Big East. St. John’s is also second in steals, averaging 10.1.

On the glass, St. John’s seems unfit to take advantage of SU. No Red Storm player averages more than six rebounds.

St. John’s (12-9, 5-6) has much more skill at guard, where senior Marcus Hatten ranks third in the conference in scoring — his 22 points a game nudges him ahead of Anthony’s 21.7 — and No. 1 in steals (2.8 a game).

Freshman Elijah Ingram has started 20 of 21 games alongside Hatten, averaging 10.3 points. But St. John’s head coach Mike Jarvis has sometimes been displeased with Ingram’s inconsistency.

‘He’s up and down, like most freshmen,’ Jarvis said last week. ‘Could he play better? Yeah, he could play a lot better.’

If St. John’s wants reason for optimism, it should look to the fact that it plays better away from home. On the road, the Red Storm averages 68.8 points — compared to 67.5 at home — and holds opponents to 68, compared to 72.6 at home.

A 2-4 home Big East record has drawn boos from Madison Square Garden crowds.

‘Sometimes the boos can help a young team,’ Jarvis said. ‘It reminds the kids that we’re not playing for the people in the stands.’

The Red Storm will be reminded of that often tonight.

‘We’re having a great year, so I think when people come in here, they’re going to have to be mentally prepared,’ SU guard Gerry McNamara said. ‘When you come in here, especially with the fans, you’re going to have to be mentally ready to compete.’

[b]This and that[/b]In anticipation of the blizzard that paralyzed New York City yesterday, St. John’s traveled to Syracuse by bus Sunday. The storm forced the Big East to cancel three games yesterday, including ESPN’s Big Monday game featuring No. 9 Pittsburgh at Georgetown. Instead, ESPN showed a replay of Syracuse’s game against No. 12 Notre Dame, played Saturday. The other two canceled games were Villanova at Seton Hall and Miami at Providence.

Published on February 17, 2003 at 12:00 pm