Carmelo Anthony was battled, bruised and bumped from the lane, while centers Craig Forth and Jeremy McNeil were nearly bounced from the scorebook.

Despite having a height advantage at center and small forward, Syracuse struggled to deal with No. 2 Pittsburgh’s widebodies in a 73-60 loss Saturday.

Anthony’s rebounding struggles were his first since a 70-66 victory at Seton Hall on Jan. 8, when he managed five rebounds, his previous season low. He’ll look to redeem himself tonight when Syracuse (11-2, 2-1 Big East) hosts Seton Hall (7-7, 2-3) at 7 in the Carrier Dome.

Against Pitt, the center combination of Forth and McNeil managed only two rebounds. Anthony, meanwhile, registered only three, along with his first complaint about physical play this season.

“There were some things that would have been called in other games,” Anthony said afterward. “It threw me out of sync a little bit.”

“I don’t think (Anthony) was surprised by it,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “I think Seton Hall played him very physically. Missouri and Boston College played him fairly physically.”

Anthony totaled double-digit rebounds against the Eagles (Jan. 11) and Tigers (Jan. 13) but has struggled against more physical teams like Pittsburgh and Seton Hall.

To make up for the lapses at Pittsburgh, yesterday’s practice included added emphasis on rebounding. At one point, walk-on Gary Hall leapt over Anthony, Forth and Hakim Warrick to secure a rebound, prompting a scolding from Boeheim.

“We’ve got guys who are 7 feet and 6-foot-10 in there,” Boeheim told the Orangemen. “You guys don’t want it enough.”

Minutes earlier, associate head coach Bernie Fine interrupted a drill to deliver a similar message.

Still, Boeheim insists he isn’t concerned with rebounding.

“Rebounds weren’t really the difference against Pittsburgh. We turned it over 20 times,” Boeheim said. “Our rebounding has been OK, not great.”

On Saturday, Syracuse was beaten soundly on the boards. Pitt held a 35-27 rebounding advantage, including a 15-8 lead on the offensive glass. Last year, the Panthers walloped the Orangemen, 43-18, in rebounding when the teams met at Pitt.

Despite giving up five inches to Forth, bulky Pitt forward Chevon Troutman toasted the Orangemen inside.

“Am I surprised we didn’t win?” SU center Craig Forth asked. “Not when you look at the stat sheet. Not when I have one rebound. We played hard the whole game but not well.”

The Orangemen have been outrebounded in three of their last four games. But besides the Pittsburgh game, SU has kept the difference minimal.

Last year, the Orangemen were outrebounded in eight of their last 12 conference contests, ending the year 4-8. In four of the losses, they were outrebounded by 10 or more.

Though Warrick maintains a fragile frame, and Forth could stand to gain a little weight, both have more rebounding potential than last year.

“We’re not going to be great at rebounding,” Boeheim said. “We’re going to get enough to stay competitive.”

In SU’s first meeting with Seton Hall, the Pirates used rebounding to stay competitive. Despite having less talent, Seton Hall, led by freshman center Kelly Whitney, outscored the Orangemen, 14-6, on second chance points. Whitney battered the Syracuse interior defense for 20 points and snatched five offensive rebounds.

“We’ve got to do a better job on interior defense,” Boeheim said. “We’ve got to keep him from catching the ball in good position.”

Published on January 21, 2003 at 12:00 pm