When Pitt lost to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome a month ago, it wasn’t pretty. But that game, an eight-point loss when the Panthers never led, was nothing compared to what happened when the two teams met at the Petersen Events Center on Wednesday night.

Because while Pitt followed an 11-point halftime deficit with a second half in which the Panthers outscored the Orange in that first matchup, the rematch had no such competitiveness from the home team.

Instead, Pitt trailed for the final 33 minutes, had more turnovers than made field goals and suffered one of the Panthers’ worst losses of the season in a 72-49 bloodbath of a defeat.

The game was played on Senior Night in front of an announced crowd of 9,001 who had gathered for the final home contest of the regular season.

The first half probably couldn’t have gone worse for Pitt. The score deficit was bad enough at 37-21, but it was compounded - and also caused - by some of the other numbers in the half. Whether it was a 19-15 rebounding advantage, a 12-5 difference in turnovers, a 13-5 separation in fouls or a shooting percentage that was 11 points higher, Syracuse was better in every respect.

And while the Orange didn’t shoot great - 1-of-9 from three-point range - they made up for it by scoring 22 points in the paint. That included 10 points from junior center Bourama Sidibe, who scored 10 points in the first 20 minutes despite averaging 5.2 points per game on the season.

The second half of the game wasn’t any better. From a turnover on the first possession of the half to ending the game on a five-minute scoring drought, Pitt’s final 20 minutes were a disaster. The Panthers shot 9-of-32 from the floor (28.1%) and 4-of-16 (25%) from three-point range.

And that was just on the offensive end. Pitt’s defense was just as bad as Syracuse shot 46.4% overall and hit seven three-point shots in the first half. Redshirt junior Elijah Hughes, who entered the game averaging 18.8 points per game, led the way with a game-high 25 points while freshman guard Joseph Girard hit four three-pointers and scored 16 points.

Conversely, Pitt had one player score in double figures; that was freshman Justin Champagnie, who scored 13 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. But Champagnie’s teammates struggled to complement his performance. Sophomore guard Xavier Johnson hit one of his six attempts and committed three turnovers. Fellow sophomore guard Trey McGowens had eight points on 3-of-6 shooting and had a team-high five turnovers.

With the loss, Pitt closes the home schedule with an overall record of 15-14 and a 6-12 mark in the ACC. The Panthers will wrap up the regular season at N.C. State and Georgia Tech before heading to the ACC Tournament.