By Jim Scott
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Syracuse is used to having the Madison Square Garden crowd behind them during the Big East Tournament. St. John's would like to change that as the two local favorites square off in the tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.
The 17th-ranked Red Storm (21-10), who have won four straight games against ranked opponents, are back in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2003 and have not won two games in the tournament since 2000.
The Orange have garnered huge fan support at Madison Square Garden over the last 10 years, especially with decade-long struggles of St. John's basketball program before its surprising resurgence under new head coach Steve Lavin this season.
The Red Storm have been nearly unbeatable at Madison Square Garden this season, going 8-1 in their second home with the lone loss coming against the Orange, 76-59, on Jan. 12.
Syracuse's zone defense held the St. John's to just 36.8 percent shooting as the Orange blew out the Red Storm in front of a sellout crowd on their home court.
"They were hitting on all cylinders," Lavin recalled Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. "You know they will be well prepared. We’re going to have to rebound and be patient against the 2-3 zone."
The Red Storm escaped with a 65-63 win over Rutgers in the second round of the tournament on Wednesday, thanks to the help of some poor officiating.
The Scarlet Knights were down two points with 4.9 seconds left when they attempted a long inbounds pass. The ball was deflected at the Rutgers foul line before Red Storm forward Justin Brownlee came up with it.
Brownlee then he took three steps out of bounds without dribbling and threw the ball high up in the air with about 1.7 seconds left in the game. However, the officials didn't call any infractions on the play and let the clock run out.
"It was kind of chaotic. A little Keystone Cops at the end," said Lavin. "(We were) just fortunate to get the win."
Syracuse, which has won six straight, has not played since a 107-59 thumping of DePaul at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.
The 11th-ranked Orange are led by forward Kris Joseph and center Rick Jackson. Joseph is the team's leading scoring at 14.2 points per game. The 6-foot-9 Jackson led the Big East with 10.7 rebounds a game and was named the conference's defensive player of the year.
Syracuse's strong finish to the regular season earned it byes in the first two rounds of the Big East tournament. The Orange were knocked out of the quarterfinals by Georgetown last year after having a bye in the first two rounds.
Syracuse has won the Big East tournament five times, most recently in 2005 and 2006. Bootsy Thornton and Eric Barkley led St. John’s to their last conference tournament title in 2000 when they beat Connecticut in the final.
The winner of Thursday's game plays either No. 3 Pittsburgh or the 21st-ranked Huskies in the semifinals Friday night.
