Pitt can't get past Syracuse

Pitt was stymied by the zone, played too loose on defense and dug itself a considerable hole before battling back against Syracuse on Saturday at the Carrier Dome.

But despite a valiant effort in the second half, the Panthers couldn’t quite make up the difference against the Orange, losing 69-61 to fall to 13-7 overall and 4-5 in the ACC.

How bad was most of the first half for Pitt? Bad enough that the Panthers’ 11-point deficit at halftime didn’t seem too bad. After all, Syracuse was up by 20 with four minutes to play in the first half, an advantage built largely on the fact that the Panthers made just six baskets in the first 20 minutes.

That total included a 2-of-11 mark from three, as Pitt routinely settled for long shots after failing to move the ball well against Jim Boeheim’s zone defense.

The Panthers compounded the issue by grabbing just two offensive rebounds despite missing 20 shots from the floor. And to make matters even worse, they lost freshman Justin Champagnie early in the half after he picked up two quick fouls.

So with all of that in mind, going into halftime down 11 wasn’t too bad, and Pitt showed signs of promise in the second half. With Champagnie back on the court to work along the back line of the zone, where he scored on several lobs from Xavier Johnson, the Panthers made a game of it.

At multiple points inside the final three minutes, Pitt cut Syracuse’s lead to three points, but the Panthers were never able to get a stop on the other end to get closer than that.

Champagnie’s second-half surge led him to a team-high 14 points, while center Terrell Brown found his groove shooting from the foul line inside the zone and scored 11. Ryan Murphy, whose three-point shooting should have been a weapon against Syracuse, hit just 2-of-7 from beyond the arc and finished with eight points, while Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens combined to score 16 points on 5-of-21 shooting. The two sophomore guards also hit a combined 2-of-9 from three.

Syracuse was led by Buddy Boeheim, who scored a game-high 21 points, and forward Marek Dolezaj, who had 17.

The loss broke Pitt’s two-game winning streak, and the Panthers will face another challenge when they go to Durham to face No. 8 Duke on Tuesday night. They’ll also get a second shot at Syracuse a month from now, as the Orange are set to visit the Petersen Events Center on Feb. 26.