Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
PITTSBURGH — Syracuse has blown double-digit leads before. There was the one against Georgetown back in December that ended in a loss, the one against Virginia to open the new year, and then of course, the 18-point one against Miami.
Tuesday, Pittsburgh started 1-of-14 from the field and scored just five field goals across the first 15 minutes of the game. SU built its double-digit lead, leading by as many as 10 points. But at halftime, Pittsburgh trailed by just four courtesy of 13 first-half boards from John Hughley.
Then in the second half, Pitt exploded with improved shooting. Syracuse, in a must-win situation in order to maintain its NCAA Tournament hopes, folded. SU shot 30.5% from the field, and converted just one second-half 3-pointer on 10 attempts. It turned the ball over 10 times, and looked rattled and shaken throughout the final 20 minutes.
Given the chance to sweep Pittsburgh, the Orange instead fell even further below .500. Two weeks ago, SU leaned on Buddy Boeheim’s 3-point shooting in the first half, and then played some of its best defense in the second half, allowing it to pull away. The Orange looked comfortable down the stretch for one of the only times this season, winning easily by 16 points.
But in Pittsburgh Tuesday, SU had a lead for three-quarters of the game, but never looked comfortable. The Orange (9-11, 3-6 Atlantic Coast) were humiliated in the second portion of the second half, losing 64-53 to Pittsburgh (8-11, 3-7 ACC), who entered the matchup with the fewest wins in the conference. Given a chance to pick up an easy road win and gain momentum after a blowout loss at Duke over the weekend, SU instead folded, losing for the fifth time in seven games and adding another blemish to an already weak NCAA Tournament resume.
Syracuse never trailed in the first half, but nearly blew its lead on multiple occasions due to scoring droughts. The Panthers had only seven first-half field goals, yet numerous times, SU looked up at the scoreboard to find itself leading by as little as one point.
Outside of the Orange’s shooting problems — an extension from their loss against Duke when they recorded just 59 points — it was offensive rebounding that allowed Pittsburgh to hang around. Pitt’s top rebounder, Hugley, snagged 13 of his 18 rebounds in the first half while no other player on either team had more than six. Eight of those were offensive boards, and they resulted in 10 second-chance points for Pittsburgh.
On one bucket toward the end of the first half, Hugley grabbed the rebound of an airballed 3-point attempt, and found himself positioned along the baseline. Jimmy Boeheim was guarding Hugley, but the SU forward thought Hugley would pass the ball backwards. Jimmy left the baseline exposed, and Hugley drove for an easy bucket and the foul, cutting SU’s lead to 21-20.
Syracuse had led by double-digits at one point. After shooting 1-for-10 from 3 against Duke, Buddy started off hot from beyond the arc, knocking down his first field goal attempt on a quick catch-and-release in transition. Then he hit another from way downtown, with his heels nearly touching the “Pitt” logo painted across midcourt, to stretch SU’s lead to 13-4. He converted a Pitt airball into a transition 3-pointer on the other end, and nearly notched another logo shot as the halftime buzzer sounded, but the referees waved it off.
Buddy’s scoring created SU’s initial lead, and the Orange played well offensively in short spurts where they were able to score a few consecutive buckets.
But then, in the second portion of the first half, SU lost that lead just as quickly as the spurts had come in the first half. Pitt shot 21.9% from the field in the first half, but came out of halftime moving the ball with much more rhythm and pace. It strung passes together inside and outside the arc, creating good shooting opportunities and started 3-of-6 from the field by the first media timeout.
And then, midway through the half, Pittsburgh took its first lead of the night when Femi Odukale caught SU in transition and layed in a bucket off the left side of the glass. He got the foul too, and converted the free throw for a 3-point play.
Pitt stretched that to a double-digit scoring run, using an offensive board from Noah Collier to cash in from 3 via Jamarius Burton on the second-chance.
Then Jimmy lost the handle on his dribble. Swider airballed a 3-pointer. Jimmy had to heave an off-balance 3-pointer at the shot clock before Buddy finally was able to end the run with free throws.
But Pitt continued to pounce. It finished 50% from the field in the second half, and finished with a better overall field goal percentage (34.5%) than SU (30.5%) despite its slow start.
With just under four minutes remaining and things looking bleak for SU, Jimmy leaped to intercept a long, backwards pass from Pitt. It looked like the SU forward could turn it into a crucial two points to swing momentum back toward Syracuse’s favor. But Jimmy got smothered by two defenders, lost the ball, and Pitt turned it into a Hugley bucket to stretch its lead to 10 points.
Then, moments later, Buddy got to his spot in the paint. He’s favored that spot all year, where he drives, and then pulls up and banks his shot off the glass. He did just that, but when he put up the shot, it wouldn’t fall. The miss was emblematic of Tuesday night’s performances, what might’ve been Syracuse’s worst of the season. It certainly might’ve been the curtain-call on their NCAA Tournament chances, too.
The post Syracuse suffers deflating 64-53 loss to Pittsburgh appeared first on The Daily Orange.