When it comes to playing on the road, Carmelo Anthony makes an interesting — albeit difficult — proposition.

“We just have to take over the court like it’s our home court,” the Syracuse men’s basketball team’s freshman forward said.

Whoa, now. Though, at 2-2, the No. 19 Orangemen — who visit West Virginia tomorrow at 4 p.m. at WVU Coliseum — have fared well on the road, other top Big East teams have struggled.

Four of Connecticut’s five losses have come on the road, as have Pittsburgh’s only two. Of Notre Dame’s four losses, three are road losses.

On Wednesday night, the No. 18 Huskies and No. 10 Irish were upset on the road, by Virginia Tech and Seton Hall, respectively.

“It really doesn’t matter where you play,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “You have to play well.”

And Syracuse (15-3, 6-2 Big East) must do it twice this weekend. After their trip to Morgantown, W.Va., the Orangemen travel to Hartford, Conn., to play the Huskies on Monday night. Syracuse will practice and recuperate Sunday in Hartford.

“We’re gonna try to get as much rest as we can,” SU point guard Billy Edelin said, “and try not to get Kobe Bryant food poisoning.”

The Orangemen’s biggest worry isn’t a room-service-burger-induced bug — like Bryant’s in last year’s NBA playoffs.

First-year head coach John Beilein has the Mountaineers (12-7, 3-4) turning heads. West Virginia is 8-1 at home, including upsets of Florida and Tennessee.

Said Boeheim: “That’s got to be one of the biggest turnarounds in college basketball this year.”

Indeed, the Mountaineers were 8-20 (1-15) last year, losing 18 of their last 19 games. Beilein, though, has squeezed 12 wins out of a team that starts three freshmen and two sophomores.

Six-foot-10 freshman forward Kevin Pittsnogle — an inside-outside threat — could pose matchup problems for the Orangemen. Pittsnogle leads WVU in blocks (24) and 3-point percentage (51.6).

Three-point shooting buried the Orangemen in their 68-65 loss at Rutgers on Jan. 29. The Scarlet Knight’s Jerome Coleman scored 15 of his 31 points off 3-pointers, and Herve Lamizana banked in a final-minute 3-pointer to give Rutgers the win.

Syracuse held a team meeting after the loss, a game in which Anthony said the Orangemen “didn’t have our focus.”

Even in its road wins, Syracuse looked sluggish, squeaking out victories over Seton Hall and Miami.

Edelin pegged two ways for SU to play better on the road: put teams away early and plan ahead.

He pointed out Boston College’s 95-71 win at then-No. 14 UConn on Feb. 1, in which the Eagles jumped out to a 53-25 halftime lead.

Edelin said when the Orangemen play in loud road arenas — and WVU’s 14,000-seat barn could be deafening — they set plays for the next several offensive possessions during timeouts. So even if Anthony’s dream of laying siege to a Big East opponent’s home court doesn’t pan out, there’s an alternative.

After UConn on Monday, SU’s road schedule gets tougher. The Orangemen visit Michigan State (Feb. 23), Georgetown (March 1) and Notre Dame (March 4).

“It makes us stronger,” Edelin said. “It’s a learning experience. So that way, when we get to tournament time, we won’t be freshmen anymore.”

Published on February 6, 2003 at 12:00 pm