Whatever swoon Pitt was in over the last week is gone, as the Panthers played a near-perfect second half to blow out Syracuse 99-81 in front of a sellout crowd at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday.
Pitt certainly wasn’t shy about shooting against Syracuse’s zone. The Panthers tried 35 shots in the first half, and while only 11 of them went through the net - 31.4% - the low-percentage shooting was boosted by a perfect 10-of-10 performance from the free throw line, and the combination gave Pitt a 37-33 lead heading into halftime.
Syracuse cut the lead to three shortly into the second half when center Jesse Edwards hit one-of-two free throws, but the Panthers kept up the barrage. And unlike the first half, they started the final frame by hitting.
Pitt made three of its first six three-point attempts in the second half to not only answer Edwards’ free throw and two subsequent Syracuse field goals, but to push the lead all the way into double digits with a 10-point lead at 48-38.
The run featured two three-pointers from Blake Hinson, but senior guard Nike Sibande was the real spark, hitting a pair of three’s and landing a monster alley-oop on an inbounds pass that caused the building to erupt.
And while Syracuse kept the pressure on the Panthers, the home team continued to answer. Pitt made consecutive field goals just THREE TIMES in the second half, but the Panthers were also effective at never allowing the Orange to build a run of their own, limiting Syracuse to just one pair of consecutive made baskets.
As such, Pitt was able to push its lead to 12 at the 14-minute mark on a four-point play from Nelly Cummings and stretch it to 13 two minutes later with a Greg Elliott three. Two minutes after that, the Panthers had the lead at 15 following a dunk from Federiko Federiko.
Things really broke open after the under-8 timeout. Pitt’s lead was down to 10, but Elliott hit a pair of free throws, Jamarius Burton scored a jump shot and Hinson hit another three - sixth in the game - to push the lead to 17.
After two Syracuse free throws, Pitt broke the Orange press for another three from Elliott , extending the lead to 18 with less than five minutes to play.
Pitt was close to perfect in the second half, shooting 21-of-33 (63.6%) from the field and 11-of-20 (55%) from three.
Syracuse forward Benny Williams led all scorers with 24 points, but Hinson paced Pitt with 22 points on 6-of-20 shooting - all six of his makes came from outside the arc - while Elliott scored 19, Cummings, Burton and Federiko had 14 each and Sibande scored 10.
With the win, Pitt improved to 21-8 on the season and 14-4 in the ACC - a conference record made even more notable by the fact that, just as the Panthers and Orange were going to halftime, No. 13 Miami lost to Florida State on a buzzer-beater. That game gave the Hurricanes five conference losses on the season, setting up next Saturday’s regular-season finale between Pitt and Miami in Coral Gables as a potential showdown for the ACC championship and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.
