Orange Fall To Pitt, 65-61

It was a hard-fought battle that the architects of the Big East would have been proud of.

Syracuse Orange

Low shooting percentages, high foul counts, bloodied eyes – this game had it all, entailing everything besides a Syracuse win as the Orange dropped their second consecutive matchup with Pitt, 65-61.

Behind three three-pointers from unheralded sophomore B.J. Johnson and a 20-point, 12-rebound effort from Rakeem Christmas, SU was able to stave off a virtual beating of Tyler Roberson, unceasing back troubles for Trevor Cooney, foul trouble for Michael Gbinije, and a late deficit, however their perseverance simply wasn’t enough to take down the Panthers.

Lead by 19 points on five made threes by swingman Chris Jones, 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists from Jamel Artis, 12 second-half points from big man Michael Young, and 8 assists from point guard James Robinson, Pitt improved their tournament resumé by completing a series sweep of the Orange.

Gbinije overcame his four fouls to record 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists while the Orange received rare valiant efforts from Johnson (11 points) and Ron Patterson (9 points) off the bench. Despite utterly dominating the rebounding battle by a margin of 35-21, Cooney’s injury-riddled ineffectiveness (0-for-5), and Kaleb Joseph’s 0-for-5 afternoon plagued Syracuse, who began the game shooting just 3-of-16 en route to a 43.8% mark from the field.

Feb 21, 2015; Syracuse, NY, USA; Syracuse Orange forward B.J. Johnson (2) shoots the ball over Pittsburgh Panthers guard/forward Chris Jones (12) during the second half at the Carrier Dome. Pittsburgh defeated Syracuse 65-61. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

The Orange also coughed up the rock on ten occasions, while leaving the dangerous Jones open from the perimeter far too often. Although they controlled the battle of the boards at a 23-10 clip in the first half, ‘Cuse found themselves trailing 31-25 at halftime following a late 13-2 Panther surge.

After a Patterson three (what?!) and a Christmas bucket cut the Pitt advantage to 41-38 with 12:45 left in the game, the Panthers simply took over behind an Artis and Young-led attack, riding a 10-2 run to a 51-40 lead with nine minutes to go. After a Jones dagger from the wing gave Pitt a 60-51 lead with 2:35 left, a wave of the white flag by the battered and bloodied Orange seemed inevitable, however, as they always do, SU fought back with a vengeance.

Following two Gbinije free throws, Jim Boeheim instituted a wildly successful press which wreaked havoc, and, following a Roberson bucket, a Christmas hook, and a Johnson corner three, the Orange found themselves trailing by just one with under a minute left. Unfortunately for Syracuse, the wheels came off the bus in the final stages, as Robinson hit two free throws with 35 seconds left to push the Pitt advantage to 63-60, and Gbinije missed one of his two foul shots with 19 seconds remaining.

After receiving the inbounds pass in the face of the Syracuse press, Robinson appeared to travel, however a failure by the referees not to call it resulted in a beating of the pressure and an open layup for Cameron Wright, giving Pitt a 65-61 lead with just ticks remaining. Roberson’s layup attempt with under four seconds to go rolled out, and, rather abruptly, the Orange walked off the court in shock, their comeback attempt having fallen short.