Pitt falls to Syracuse again
Pitt got interior scoring and rebounds, but it wasn't enough to overcome a deep slump in the first half against Syracuse on Saturday at the Petersen Events Center as the Orange left town with a 65-56 win.
The defeat was Pitt’s fifth in a row and drops the Panthers’ record to 12-10 overall and 2-7 in the ACC.
Pitt lost to Syracuse earlier this season at the Carrier Dome in a game that saw the Panthers stymied by the Orange’s 2-3 zone, and in the first half, those struggles continued for Jeff Capel’s squad. After a three-point shot by Jared Wilson-Frame pulled the Panthers within two points at the midway point of the half, Pitt fell victim to the zone.
The shot clock became the Panthers’ enemy, and they hit just one of six field goal attempts - missing all five three-point shots - while turning the ball over five times during an eight-minute stretch. Syracuse’s lead ballooned to 16 during that stretch, and when the two teams went to the locker rooms at halftime, Pitt was down 35-22 with just six made field goals.
The Orange extended the lead to 14 a couple minutes into the second half, but then Pitt made its push. Led by three baskets from Terrell Brown including an alley-oop and a tip-in put-back, the Panthers surged. And with a cranked-up defensive intensity, Syracuse couldn’t find a basket at the other end; as a result, Pitt cut Syracuse’s 39-25 lead down to 39-36.
But the Orange didn’t go quietly into the night, no matter how loud the capacity crowd at the Petersen Events Center got. Syracuse started answering Pitt’s baskets and stretched its lead back to double digits. The Panthers tried to battle back, but they could never make the key shots and Syracuse hit just enough to stay comfortably ahead.
Brown was Pitt’s star on Saturday night, scoring a season-high 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Xavier Johnson chipped in 14 but also - and perhaps more importantly - recorded six assists against just two turnovers. In addition, he went to the free throw line 12 times after trying just four foul shots in the last loss to Syracuse.
The Panthers did outrebound the Orange for the second time this season and matched their season high with 18 rebounds (the last time they had that many was at the Carrier Dome).
Freshman Au’Diese Toney returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday night’s loss at Clemson with a hand injury. He played 10 minutes and missed two field goal attempts but did have four rebounds. Junior Malik Ellison started in place of Toney and grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.
Pitt is off until Tuesday when the Panthers will travel to face Wake Forest for a 7 pm tipoff.