Pitt sweeps Syracuse with 20-point win

Powered by a surprise return, Pitt used one of the best single-half performances in school history to log one of its most impressive wins to date on Saturday, as the Panthers blew out Syracuse 96-76 at the Petersen Events Center.

The win improved Pitt’s season record to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the ACC, and while the 20-point conference win seemed made to grab headlines, the biggest story of the day came before the game when sophomore forward Justin Champagnie took the court.

Champagnie hadn’t played since Dec. 16 after suffering a knee injury in practice. The initial announcement said that he would miss six-to-eight weeks; instead, he came back in less than four weeks and missed just two games.

If there was any rust from Champagnie’s extended layoff, it didn’t show, as he stepped right back into his role as Pitt’s leading scorer and rebounder, pacing the Panthers with 24 points and 16 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

Champagnie wasn’t the only Pitt player to excel on Saturday. Junior guard Xavier Johnson scored 23 and logged seven assists, sophomore Ithiel Horton scored 20 points on 5-of-10 three-point shooting and junior Au’Diese Toney scored 18.

The Panthers needed every bit of that production on Saturday. They opened the game missing their first 10 shots and trailed Syracuse 37-32 at halftime. But as was the case at The Dome last Wednesday, Pitt’s defense and rebounding kept Jeff Capel’s squad in it, and when the offense finally got rolling, the Orange couldn’t keep up.

The result was a 64-point performance in the second half - the fourth-highest scoring half in Pitt history and the most in a half since the Panthers scored 67 in a 117-102 win over Providence on Feb. 10, 1990. Saturday’s game was also the most Pitt has scored against Syracuse since the Panthers beat the Orange 109-99 on Feb. 11, 1972.

Pitt’s next scheduled game is on Tuesday, when the Panthers are set to host Duke for a 9 pm tipoff.