Syracuse Basketball vs. Pittsburgh: 5 Takeaways

Dec 30, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers forward Jamel Artis (1) dribbles the ball up court ahead of Syracuse Orange forward Michael Gbinije (0) during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. PITT won 72-61. Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Syracuse basketball team lost a tough game to Pittsburgh, 72-61 last night at the Peterson Events Center in the ACC opener for both squads.

For the first 37 minutes, Syracuse basketball really hung in there. Even after getting absolutely crushed on the glass 43-25 and missing 9 of their first 18 free throws, they actually held a 1-point lead with less than four minutes to play. And then the wheels fell off.

What was a close game got out of hand fast. As much as I’d love to blame the refs for some pretty terrible calls (several of the fouls on Dajuan, Gbinije’s “charge” when Robinson was still clearly moving his feet, etc), the truth is that Syracuse lost this game themselves.

Now it’s time to take off my orange colored glasses and analyze what this first conference game showed us, and what it means going forward. So without further ado, here are my five biggest takeaways from yesterday’s game.