ST. JOHN'S TOPS SYRACUSE BEHIND GLASS AND MULLIN

Feb. 24, 1985

Top-ranked St. John's, which has made an art of the second-half comeback, stepped out of character this afternoon, getting off to a fast start and exploding past Syracuse, 88-83.

A crowd of 32,485 - the second largest on-campus audience to watch a basketball game - saw Syracuse taken out of the game early by a combination of fierce defense by the Redmen and poor excecution by the Orangemen. St. John's, gaining a school-record 19th straight victory, raced to an 11-point halftime lead and never lost control. The Redmen were helped by a strong performance from Willie Glass, who scored a career- high 22 points as he hit on seven out of eight shots from the field. Only a late Syracuse run made the score appear respectable.

Perhaps the most telling statistic for Syracuse, which relies on a fast- paced offense and strong shooting, was the first-half performance of its leading scorer, Rafael Addison. The 6-foot-7-inch junior forward hit only 2 of 11 shots before intermission and finished with 14 points.

On defense, Addison had to guard Chris Mullin, the Redmen's 6-6 all- American, who scored 16 first-half points. Addison conceded that the cumulative effect of Glass on defense and Mullin on offense may have hurt his first-half performance.

''It was a tough assignment,'' he said. ''I wasn't backing down or anything, but when so much is expected out of you on offense, it can get pretty hard.''

Syracuse tried a 2-3 zone midway in the half, but by then St. John's was pulling away.

Mullin finished the game with 23 points to lead all scorers. Walter Berry, held to 2 points in the first half, finished with 16. Bill Wennington scored 10, and Mark Jackson 11, as the Redmen turned what was supposed to have been a classic matchup into a rout. It had taken a fierce St. John's comeback to win the first game between the two teams this season, an 82-80 overtime victory at Madison Square Garden. The rematch had created frenzied anticipation on the Syracuse campus this week.

But the result was so discouraging to the Orange that Coach Jim Boeheim called a practice at the Dome three hours after the game was over.

''It was a disappointing game,'' he said. ''They played well and we didn't play as well as we are capable off.''

It was only the second time in 14 games this season that the Orangemen have lost in the Carrier Dome. They are now 19-6 over all and 8-6 in the Big East Conference. The Redmen improved to 24-1 and remained undefeated (14-0) in the conference. The Redmen have two games remaining, one of them against the No. 2 ranked Hoyas of Georgetown.

''This was a great win,'' said Lou Carnesecca who saw his Redmen out outrun and out finesse the skilled Orangemen. ''Each of our guys off the bench made a contribution, Ron Stewart and Mark Jackson did an excellent job off the bench. ''We played smart, our selection of shots was good.''

Asked about the intense Carrier Dome crowd, which has been known to throw an orange or two on the court, Carnesecca said his players were not intimidated. ''My guys have been through this before,'' he said. ''Some of them have played up here five times. The crowd can't score or play defense.''

In fact, despite the best efforts of the band and the Orange-clad ''Dome Ranger'', the crowd, discouraged by the action on the court, was never in the game.

Dwayne (Pearl) Washington led Syracuse with 20 points. But the all- conference sophomore guard made six turnovers and was forced to take jumpshots rather than the foul-drawing drives he is so good at. Five of Washington's turnovers came in critical stretches during the first half.

Jackson, turning in his second consecutive strong performance for the Redmen, forced Washington to play hard at both ends of the court.

Took Away Washington's Game

''We wanted to make him play defense,'' said Jackson, whose team made 60 percent of his shots. ''And we were making our shots. When you score, it takes away his open-court game, and that's the key for stopping him.'' ''They looked a lot stronger, a lot more cohesive than they did the first time we played,'' said Washington, whose team shot 45 percent. ''A lot of people are contributing and helping out for them, it's not just one person. That's part of problem, we rely too much on one or two people.''

By outshooting Syracuse 48 to 40 percent in the first 20 minutes, St. John's thoroughly dominated the Orangemen and jumped to a 41-30 halftime lead. And Mullin, who had shot only 40 percent in opening halves this season, exploded early.

Not usually a flamboyant player, Mullin even provided some entertainment with a spectacular playground dunk.