PITTSBURGH – In Norm’s World, everything is positive.

Does he worry that he only has nine scholarship players? Nope. Every one of them should be excited to come to practice because they will get run.

Does he fret his team has worse aim than a three-year-old throwing his first snowball? Nope. Keep heaving up those shots, boys, sooner or later you’ll hit something.

Does he gripe that the officials have not given his team any breaks in the last two games? Nope. His players must learn the adversity that comes with playing in tough road venues.

So after the Red Storm once again got worn down in a 55-44 loss at Pittsburgh last night, Norm Roberts refused to complain about his team’s lack of depth or poor shooting (27.8 percent) or the tough environs of the Petersen Center.

“It was 30-32,” said Roberts. “The game was right there for anybody.”

It appeared as if St. John’s, which stunned Pittsburgh 67-64 earlier this season, might pull off a shocking home-and-home sweep. Daryll Hill lofted a perfect alley-oop pass that Ryan Williams caught at the top of the backboard and slammed in. It should have charged up the Red Storm.

“That’s usually what happens,” said Williams, who got eight points and six rebounds off the bench. “You get an exciting play like that and it turns you up.”

Instead, St. John’s (8-12 overall, 2-8 in the Big East) flatlined. Pittsburgh (16-4, 6-3) went on a 17-6 surge to secure the win. Twelve of the 17 points came in the paint as Brooklyn’s Chris Taft (12 points, eight rebounds) and Chevy Troutman (19 points, seven boards) took over.

“I think we’re in good shape,” said Roberts. “We can play all day. These guys love to play. They’re young men.”

But even young men get weary. The 44 points was the Red Storm’s lowest output since Jan. 14, 1992. In the 68-46 loss at Connecticut on Saturday, St. John’s missed 16 straight shots. Last night it missed 11 straight.

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What’s gotten into umpire Curtis Shaw? He opened the night by calling a three-second violation on Chevy Troutman. Then he called a palming violation on Pittsburgh’s Antonio Graves and one on Lawrence.

He slapped Carl Krauser with a technical foul when the Bronx native protested an offensive foul call by shouting, “Come on!” He ejected a fan who didn’t like the technical.

Then Shaw stared down Daryll Hill and Phil Missere after they objected to calls. The best officials are the ones you don’t notice.