SALON

Saturday, Feb 2, 2013 10:30 PM UTC

Balanced Panthers knock off No. 6 Syracuse 65-55

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Balanced Panthers knock off No. 6 Syracuse 65-55Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim gestures on the sideline during an NCAA college basketball game against Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. (AP Photo/John Heller)(Credit: AP)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jim Boeheim spent two hours watching Pittsburgh’s unusual 10-man rotation swarm No. 6 Syracuse into a flurry of missed shots, missed rebounds and missed opportunities in a 65-55 victory on Saturday and thinks he may have finally figured out who’s on top of the wide-open Big East.

“They’re the best team we’ve played, without any question,” Boeheim said. “It’s not even close.”

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon isn’t quite ready to go that far. Yet there’s little doubt the Panthers and Orange are heading in opposite directions.

“In everybody’s eyes there’s this huge difference (between Pitt and Syracuse) but we felt we’d lost some close games, they won some close games,” Dixon said. “You can’t panic.”

Something Pitt never seems to do when facing a highly ranked opponent at home. Tray Woodall had 13 points, four assists and three steals as the Panthers improved to 13-1 against Top 10 teams since the Petersen Events Center opened a decade ago.

“We felt like it was a must win,” Woodall said.

Trey Zeigler added six points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench for the Pitt (18-5, 6-4 Big East), which gave its tidy record some needed polish by dominating the undermanned Orange on the glass.

The Panthers outrebounded Syracuse 39-24, held the Orange to 37 percent shooting (18 of 49) and never trailed in the second half. Injuries and personnel issues forced Syracuse to play with just seven scholarship players, though Boeheim doesn’t think the short bench was as much of an issue as Pitt’s ability to guard.

“They’re a tremendous defensive team, knew we were going to have trouble scoring against them,” he said. “When the game was in doubt, we had some opportunities and didn’t finish.”

C.J. Fair led Syracuse (18-3, 6-2) with 20 points and Brandon Triche scored 14 but couldn’t stop Syracuse from its first losing streak in nearly two years. Michael Carter-Williams added 13 points for Syracuse but the nation’s leader in assists finished with just two — nearly seven below his average. The Orange had just five assists on 18 baskets.

“They make you drive and our inside guys just aren’t ready yet,” Boeheim said. “C.J. had a good game and our two guards had offensive games. But we can’t go to Jerami (Grant), we can’t go to (Rakeem Christmas), they’re not going to be a factor.”

The Panthers haven’t been much of a factor in the Big East over the two seasons. Pitt missed the NCAA tournament for the first time this millennium last season and came in just 1-3 against ranked teams this year, the lone win a 25-point romp over Georgetown last month that sent the Hoyas tumbling out of the polls.

This one should have a little more resonance after a satisfying win in front of a packed house that included thousands of students who camped overnight in the lobby of the arena in order to get some prime seats.

The game was tied at 35 midway through the second half when Pitt took control for good. Cam Wright hit a 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring to put the Panthers in front. Lamar Patterson followed with a pullup jumper and Steven Adams put back a miss that allowed Pitt to push in front 43-37.

Freshman Durand Johnson followed shortly thereafter with a 3-pointer of his own. The ebullient swingman put his fingers over his eye in celebration as the lead ballooned to 48-39. Syracuse never got closer than five the rest of the way as Pitt made its free throws after going just 3 of 12 at the line in a loss at No. 12 Louisville on Monday.

“It was real important,” Woodall said. “We know we came off a loss in Louisville where we felt we were the better team.”

The Panthers left no doubt on Saturday as Syracuse failed to put together the bounce back performance it needed after a long week to think about a 75-71 overtime loss to Villanova.

The Orange played without center DaJuan Coleman, who underwent left knee surgery on Tuesday that will sideline him for at least four weeks. Coleman’s injury significantly shortened Syracuse’s bench, though depth was hardly necessary during a methodical, hard fought game that should serve as a wake-up call to the ACC of what awaits when the two schools switch leagues next year.

Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone has never been much of an issue for Pitt under Dixon. The Panthers began the day 9-3 against the Orange during Dixon’s tenure and, after a slow start, Pitt once again found the little creases in Syracuse’s defense to get open shots. The Panthers started the game 1 of 8 but finished the half 12 of 26, with all but two of the buckets coming off assists.

The result was a 27-25 halftime lead, Pitt going ahead on a dunk by Talib Zanna after Zeigler slashed to the middle then fed Zanna sprinting to the basket from the corner. Pitt finished with 19 assists on 24 baskets, the kind of unselfish play the Panthers have made their hallmark.

While some coaches may struggle to juggle egos while trying to play 10 men a game, Dixon says that’s not a problem. Every Pitt player scored, all but one had at least one rebound and seven Panthers notched at least one assist.

“This team is unique,” Dixon said. “I think the strength is in playing 10 guys. That’s not normal but that’s what works for us.”

___

Follow Will Graves at www.twitter.com/WillGravesAP

More By Will Graves.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Slave descendants seek equal rights from Cherokee Nation
55 points56 points | 3 comments
vote
Oklahoma senator who voted against federal funding for Hurricane Sandy victims: Tornado aid “totally different” from Sandy aid
38 points39 points | comment
vote
"Apparently, we have deserving and undeserving disasters, Oklahoma senators James Inhofe and Tom Coburn explain"
31 points32 points | 2 comments
vote
Obama opposes GOP bill on Keystone XL oil pipeline: The White House said Tuesday that the bill “seeks to circumvent longstanding and proven processes” by removing a requirement for a presidential permit. The legislation also says no new environmental studies are needed.
22 points23 points | 2 comments
vote
"Slave descendants seek equal rights from Cherokee Nation": long, detailed narrative of legal and historical complications in red-white-black relations
20 points21 points | comment

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations