Orange Drops Conference Opener Thanks to Late Surge by Pitt

By Nick Richardson

Pittsburgh, Pa.  – For the first time since 2007, the Syracuse men’s basketball team owns a conference record of 0-1, as it dropped the ACC opener to the Pittsburgh Panthers 72-61 on Wednesday night at the Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers (11-1, 1-0) broke open what had been a tightly contested ballgame in the last six minutes, going on a 14-2 run and not allowing an Orange (10-4, 0-1) field goal in the last 5:32.

“I felt really good for 35 minutes,” Syracuse interim head coach Mike Hopkins said. “I had heartburn the last five.”

"Down the stretch when we needed them, we seemed to attack the zone the way we wanted to," Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. "We got penetration, more layups, more inside-out (stuff)."

Pitt’s Sheldon Jeter was the difference-maker late, as he came up with a pair of big dunks as well as a three-point play in the last few minutes, scoring seven of his 11 points in the second half.

The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Orange, which is  now 4-3 under Hopkins while Jim Boeheim continues to serve his nine-game NCAA-imposed suspension.

Trevor Cooney and Tyler Roberson paced the Orange with 15 points apiece, with Roberson adding a team-high seven rebounds.

Balanced Opponents

Despite what the final score might indicate, the game was very tight for most of the game. After a sloppy start by both sides, the Orange came back to tie things up 30-30 at halftime.

The second half saw better offensive play and several lead changes. Both teams got solid production from their key players. For Syracuse, Cooney continued his hot long-distance shooting, making three of his five three-point attempts. Pitt’s Jamel Artis came close to a triple-double, finishing with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

One player whom the Orange would’ve liked to see more production out of was Tyler Lydon, who wound up with only four points but could have easily had more had he not passed up a few good-looking shot opportunities. He took only three shots. Hopkins said he wouldn’t mind seeing the freshman be a little more selfish.

“I probably pull four back muscles and a shoulder muscle every time he does [pass up a shot],” Hopkins said with a grin. He then gave a visual example of his reaction, flailing his arms about in fake exasperation.

Interior Domination

When looking at the key reason why the Orange fell short against the Panthers, one needn’t look any further than the glass, which Pitt thoroughly dominated all night.

The Panthers outrebounded the Orange 43-25 for the game, including 25-13 in the first half.

Syracuse’s struggles on the boards were compounded when senior big man Dajuan Coleman fouled out shortly before the Panthers made their late charge.

“We’re small and when DaJuan gets into foul trouble we’re really small,” Hopkins said. “With the guards getting rebounds, that’s a significant difference.”

Despite the lopsided rebounding stats, Hopkins said he was proud of how his team, particularly guards Cooney and Michael Gbinije, battled for rebounds.

“The thing that I was most proud about him [Cooney] and Mike was that, obviously they played 40 minutes, but they did a great job on the defensive end,” Hopkins said.

Missed Opportunities

Apart from the large rebounding discrepancy, the Orange was also on the short end of numerous second chances throughout the contest. In fact, the Panthers finished the game with a whopping 22-2 advantage in second-chance points.

“Sometimes you can play defense for 28 seconds this year with the deep three, it’s short or it gets blocked and they put it back in,” Hopkins said. “Sometimes those things happen.”

Perhaps no one embodied those missed chances more than Gbinije. Despite finishing with 14 points, he shot just 4-12 from the field and 5-10 from the free throw line. Several of his misses came on layup attempts that just didn’t seem to want to go in.

“You need to be able to attack Pitt and get to the basket and I thought our guys did a really good job,” Hopkins said. “We missed a couple late, we had it right there, but it happens.”

Game Notes

Free throws were once again a problem area for the Orange.SU went 16-25 for the game, including a paltry 7-14 in the first half.

Each team had four players finish with double-digit points on the night. The Orange were led by Cooney and Roberson (15), along with Gbinije (14) and Malachi Richardson (10). Artis led the Panthers with 18, followed by Michael Young (15), Jeter (11) and Chris Jones (10).

The Orange are now just 2-10 in games held at the ‘Pete’. They dropped last year’s contest at Pitt 83-77.

Coming Attractions

The Orange continues the ACC schedule with another tough matchup as it travels to face the No. 13 Miami Hurricanes on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 2:30 p.m.

Pittsburgh will squeeze in one more non-conference opponent as it hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday, Jan. 2 at 4:00 p.m.

Jamie Dixon quote from pittsburghpanthers.com