ALBANY — They mumbled five minutes worth of answers before The Question — the most obvious question at that — shocked them out of their monotones.

How would the Auburn men’s basketball team defend Carmelo Anthony?

Forward Marco Killingsworth leaned forward and looked to his left toward guard Derrick Bird.

‘That’s Derrick’s job first,’ he said with a Cheshire grin.

‘It’s going to be a total team effort,’ Bird said. ‘It’s not just going to be me.’

‘We’re going to try to box him out,’ Killingsworth added. ‘We know all his characteristics.’

Maybe so, but when the No. 10-seeded Tigers and the No. 3 Orangemen meet tonight at 9:40 in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 at the Pepsi Arena, SU will try to exploit Anthony and center Jeremy McNeil’s size advantages.

The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Bird is Auburn’s best defender. In the Tigers’ second-round win over Wake Forest last Sunday, he held National Player of the Year candidate Josh Howard to 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

But Bird is four inches shorter and 25 pounds lighter than Anthony, who ranks third among NCAA Tournament players with 22.7 points a game. And Auburn center Kyle Davis gives up about 20 pounds to McNeil, whose playing time has spiked in the tournament.

‘We’re definitely gonna try to exploit that,’ SU forward Hakim Warrick said. ‘Especially when Carmelo’s taller than somebody, we’re gonna try to go to him in the post.’

‘I don’t care if he’s 300 pounds,’ McNeil said of Davis. ‘I’m not gonna take him lightly. But if I get it, I’m just gonna try to dunk on him every time. I’m just gonna try to push him out of the paint.’

Don’t bet on the Orangemen underestimating the Tigers, either. When Auburn made the Field of 65, some media members criticized the selection committee’s decision. After all, the Tigers lost six of their last nine games.

Auburn coach Cliff Ellis put all that banter to rest yesterday.

‘Our ball club has proven itself — bottom line,’ he said. ‘The talk with regard to that should be over. If you’re in the Sweet 16, the players have done the talking on the court.’

Indeed, the Tigers beat No. 7 St. Joseph’s and No. 2 Wake Forest to advance to the Sweet 16. Versatile forward Marquis Daniels led the way, shooting 10 of 19 for 25 points in the win over St. Joseph’s and 7 of 15 for 18 in the upset of the Demon Deacons.

Earlier this week, Anthony got a call from Justin Gray, Wake Forest’s freshman guard and Anthony’s roommate last year at Oak Hill Academy. Gray didn’t mention much about Bird, Anthony said.

Because of the size difference, Anthony may try to post up Bird early, instead of relying on his jump shot, as he has in SU’s first two tournament games.

‘I really don’t know much about Derrick Bird,’ Anthony said. ‘I can’t look at somebody and go on their size or how they look. We joke around in practice. When they say a 6-3 guy is guarding me, I just say he’s too small.’

Until this week, Auburn remained a mystery to SU head coach Jim Boeheim, too.

‘They are probably the only team in the country that I didn’t see play this year,’ said Boeheim, who has satellite television. ‘I probably saw Alabama five times. I don’t know how I missed them. The thing that impressed me was how good they are.’

Perhaps not good enough for the Orangemen to be nervous, even in their first Sweet 16 game since 2000.

Anthony was so relaxed that he left his warm-up top in Syracuse and had to borrow Warrick’s for yesterday’s press conference. Guard Gerry McNamara’s not sweating the five stitches above his right eye, either. McNamara, who trainers mended after Sunday’s win over Oklahoma State, said he’s getting the stitches removed today.

So as the Orangemen slammed down windmill dunks and alley-oops in practice yesterday, they lapped up the pro-SU crowd’s applause and verified an assertion Anthony made minutes earlier.

‘Nervous?’ The Walking Mismatch squealed. ‘About what? We don’t get nervous on this team.’

Published on March 27, 2003 at 12:00 pm