NEW YORK -- Carmelo Anthony was going to play at Madison Square Garden this season. It was only a matter of time. And a matter of whether he'd get paid for it. He chose to forgo the dough, at least for now. But the Syracuse freshman forward gave the New York crowd what they paid for and more in his first college game.

	Syracuse freshman Carmelo Anthony debuted in the Garden with 27 points in a loss.

Anthony looked comfortable from the opening tip. Even before that, actually. An hour prior, he sat on the press table courtside, watching his teammates shoot, shoes off, socks on. Like he'd played here a hundred times before.

Actually, he did play here once before. In April, he scored 19 points in the McDonald's High School All-American game. Thursday night he had 21 in the first half.

In the last college game played at the Garden, a can't-miss corn-rowed freshman lit the floor on fire. That was Dajuan Wagner of the Memphis Tigers, the team Syracuse happened to be facing Thursday night. Wagner led his team to the NIT title at the Garden in March, in what turned out to be his collegiate going away party before heading to the NBA.

Thursday night, a can't-miss, corn-rowed freshman, several inches taller, had his coming out party.

Only problem is, Memphis crashed his party, coming away with a 70-63 win.

But it was Anthony who had the crowd buzzing. The Big East's preseason freshman of the year got the loudest pregame ovation, and officially introduced himself 1:48 into the contest by skying high for a one-hand slam.

Several minutes later, while double-teamed, Anthony ball-faked both defenders out of their drawers, and stepped back beyond the arc. Swish.

"I wasn't nervous at all," Anthony said. "A lot of people said I should be. But I felt no pressure at all."

As the first half wore on, the kid found another comfort level. The stern game face melted into a smile, with a sprinkle of swagger. He licked his lips, and called for the ball, even chasing down point guard Gerry McNamara to get the last shot of the half. If he touched the ball, it was going up. With good reason. Because it was probably going down.

"I tried to take them on my back," Anthony said. "I wanna be in that position. But no one can do it by themselves."

He had some help -- primarily from McNamara, the other freshman in Syracuse's starting lineup, who buried four 3-pointers. Anthony and McNamara accounted for 41 of their team's 63 points.

But the Memphis freshmen were equally impressive. The Tigers started two rooks as well -- guard Jeremy Hunt, who notched 19 points, and forward Rodney Carney, a champion high jumper in high school, who threw down a devastating dunk that even dwarfed Anthony's.

The Orangemen crawled back from 17 down to take a six-point lead in the second half. It was all coming together for Carmelo and the 'Cuse. And then it happened. The legs started to go. He blew a dunk. Three-pointer? Nothing but glass. Next thing you knew, he'd missed five free throws in a row. He wasn't running to the ball anymore. And the ball wasn't finding him.

Anthony scored only six points in the second half -- and was scoreless for the final eight minutes.

"I ain't used to playing 40 minutes," he said.

Imagine, he could have been playing 48. But Anthony rediscovered his comfort zone after the game, sitting back at his locker, arms spread-eagled, smiling.

"I'm very pleased with my performance," he said. "Except for my free throws. Gotta work on those."

He's got time. At least a year, before his next coming out party. He'll get paid.

And he'll be back.

Kieran Darcy is a staff writer for ESPN The Magazine.