Pittsburgh Holds Off Syracuse, 72-71

By Ellen Burr

WASHINGTON, D.C. –

After a tenacious comeback by Syracuse (19-13, 9-10) to tie the game with 1:58 to go, Pittsburgh (21-10, 10-9) held off the Orange, 72-71, to advance to the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.

With less than three minutes to go in the matchup, SU was down 68-61.  But the Orange, led by two clutch three-pointers by Michael Gbinije and a bucket by Malachi Richardson, went on a 7-point run to tie up the game.

But it was not enough. The Panthers responded with two baskets by James Robinson. Gbinije managed to hit another three to make it a one-point game with 18 seconds to go. As the clock wound down to 8, Coach Jim Boeheim turned to his bench to put senior Trevor Cooney back in the game for Frank Howard. Gbinije, Cooney, Richardson, and Tyler Lydon – Syracuse had its four best shooters on the floor.

“We wanted to get the ball to mike and drive it,” Coach Boeheim said following the game.

But after the Panthers’ press doubled the graduate guard, it was Cooney who would have the final shot. He pulled up behind the arc and released the ball – short. The ball bounced off the front of the rim and the clock expired as the Panthers sprinted over to their bench in celebration. On the other side of the court, a dejected Cooney and the Orange stood still, heads hanging.

“I thought Trevor made the best of that situation,” Coach Boeheim said. “I would have liked to have seen him go all the way. I don’t think he had quite enough time.”

“I was just trying to make a play,” Cooney said. “I thought I had a clean look, but I should have drove it. I should have made another play.”

Syracuse Leads Early

After the game was suspended for 13 minutes because of technical issues with the shot clock, the Orange popped out to an early lead. SU continued to deliver in the first half, and held a 10-point margin over the Panthers with less than 6 minutes to go before the break.

But the momentum shifted over to Pittsburgh as the Panthers took off on a 19-5 run to take the lead going into halftime, 31-29.

The Orange Hold On

Pittsburgh continued to roll through the beginning of the second half, extending its lead over Syracuse to 14 after only five minutes of play.

But the Panthers could not shake off the Orange as Syracuse clawed its way back to tie it up late in the game.

“We had a lot on the line,” Gbinije said. “We just wanted to come out and compete. When we got down, we had some competitors…and tried our best to win.”

Panthers’ Bench Pulls Through

More than half of Pittsburgh’s points came from the bench – redshirt freshman Cameron Johnson and sophomore Ryan Luther combined for a total of 37 points.

Johnson led the Panthers with 24, trumping his former career-high 20 points against Boston College back in January.

“You hope freshmen get better,” Pittsburgh head coach Jamie Dixon said. “It’s up to them. But his improvement has been dramatic. He’s made us better.”

Up Next

Pittsburgh moves on to play UNC in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament. That game is scheduled for tomorrow at noon.

The Orange, on the other hand, return home to Syracuse. Their fate will be decided this Sunday when the NCAA tournament bracket is released.  Following today’s game, when asked about how the NCAA tournament committee will decide the Orange’s fate, Coach Boeheim had two words – “No comment.”

Notes

-Michael Gbinije led the Orange with 24 points.

-Dajuan Coleman finished the afternoon with a game-high 11 rebounds. Syracuse just barely edged Pittsburgh on the boards, outrebounding the Panthers 31-30.

-Syracuse shot over 50% from the 3-point line. Pittsburgh