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PITTSBURGH — Early on, it looked like Syracuse would take care of business. Pittsburgh started 1-of-14 from the field and scored just five field goals across the first 15 minutes of the game. SU built a double-digit lead behind hot shooting starts from Buddy Boeheim and Jimmy Boeheim.

By halftime, the lead was essentially gone, and it wasn’t all that surprising. Syracuse has established itself as a very streaky team that scores in spurts and then concedes large runs, evidenced by the blown double-digit leads against Georgetown in December, the one against Virginia to open the new year, and then of course, the 18-point one against Miami. 

But after the final buzzer sounded on Tuesday, it was clear Pittsburgh was the worst. It was a new low for Syracuse’s season — collapsing in a must-win situation in order to maintain its NCAA Tournament hopes. It was an embarrassment, a humiliating double-digit defeat to a Pittsburgh team that entered the matchup with the fewest wins in the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

“I don’t really have any words right now. I really don’t have much to say right now, just tough, really tough,” Buddy said outside the locker room after the 64-53 defeat, which dropped Syracuse to 9-11. 

Given the chance to sweep Pittsburgh (8-12, 3-6 Atlantic Coast) and pick up what should’ve been one of the only routine wins remaining on SU’s schedule, the Orange instead fell even further below .500. Against the Panthers two weeks ago, SU leaned on Buddy’s 3-point shooting in the first half and then played some of its best defense of the season 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 Tuesday on the road, SU had a lead for three-quarters of the game, yet never looked comfortable. Now, the Orange have lost five of their last seven games, the latest adding another blemish to an already weak NCAA Tournament resume.

“I’m concerned about winning a game,” head coach Jim Boeheim said when asked about his concern over missing the Tournament. “Are you kidding me? Do you see anything that looks like a tournament team out there? Do you?”

Syracuse never trailed in the first half but nearly blew the lead Buddy helped manufacture on multiple occasions due to scoring droughts. After shooting 1-for-10 from 3 against Duke, Buddy knocked 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 later 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. 

The Orange played well offensively in short spurts where they were able to score a few consecutive buckets. 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.

Then in the second half, Pitt exploded with improved shooting. Syracuse shot 30.2% from the field — second lowest this season — and converted just one second-half 3-pointer on 14 attempts. Its 53 points tied a season low, too. 

“The defensive numbers are fine, (but) we’re not winning games scoring 53 points. It’s just not who we are,” Boeheim said.

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, John 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 off an airballed 3-point attempt, and found himself positioned along the baseline. Jimmy 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.

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. 

Midway through the second half, Pittsburgh took its first lead of the night when Femi Odukale caught SU in transition and laid 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, among other buckets.

Then Jimmy lost the handle on his dribble. Cole Swider airballed a 3-pointer. Jimmy had to heave an off-balance 3-pointer before Buddy finally was able to end the Pitt run with free throws.

And Pittsburgh continued to pounce. The Panthers shot 50% from the field in the second half and finished with a better overall field-goal percentage (34.5%) than SU (30.2%) despite its slow start.

“Just disappeared tonight,” Boeheim said in his opening statement. “Last two games we struggled … but tonight was really a struggle.”

With just under four minutes remaining and SU running out of time to manufacture a comeback, Jimmy leapt to intercept a long, backwards pass from Pitt. It looked like the SU forward could turn it into a crucial two points to cut into Pitt’s eight-point lead. But Jimmy got smothered by Pitt’s pressure and lost the ball, the turnover leading to a Hugley basket. 

The turnover was emblematic of Tuesday night’s performance — likely Syracuse’s worst of the season. 

“We’re obviously very upset right now and it’s going to sting for a while,” Buddy said.

Published on January 25, 2022 at 10:19 pm

Contact Roshan: rferna04@syr.edu | @Roshan_f16