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Syracuse dropped to 1-3 in the conference for the third time in the last four years with a loss to Pittsburgh in the Petersen Events Center on Saturday.

Alan Griffin poured in 28 points, but three Panthers — Justin Champagnie, Ithiel Horton and Xavier Johnson — recorded at least 20 points. Pitt made a habit of forcing the ball inside Syracuse’s zone and either finishing over smaller defenders or kicking out to open shooters. Pitt scored 64 second-half points on nearly 60% shooting from the field.

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

Champagnie gets up

After missing nearly a month due to injury, Champagnie (24 points, 16 rebounds), Pittsburgh’s best player, returned Saturday with a statement. Three, actually.

First, on the break after a Griffin turnover, Champagnie powered through a jam to put the Panthers up 47-44. It was the start of a 27-11 run to open the second half.

His next jam in transition came four minutes later, when Marek Dolezaj left his feet to challenge Champagnie at the rim. It did not go well for Syracuse’s undersized center.

Next, he followed a missed 3-pointer along the baseline. Nobody boxed him out, so he timed up the miss, met it at its high point and slammed it down.

Champagnie was the dependent variable in the two matchups. He entered the game third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring and first in rebounding. His offensive acrobatics and defensive steadiness after a month’s absence stunned SU, as he was by far the best player on the court.

Syracuse keeps the first half rebounding battle close

In its previous two ACC losses — to Pitt and North Carolina — Syracuse was outrebounded by a combined 97-64. Without Bourama Sidibe, SU had to deal with a Panthers frontcourt that returned the conference’s leading rebounder in Champagnie (12.3 rebounds per game).

Pittsburgh missed its first 10 shot attempts, and SU surrendered just one offensive rebound in that seven-minute span. Quincy Guerrier, Dolezaj and a combination of Robert Braswell and Griffin competed for each miss. SU got out to a 12-4 lead, which would’ve exploded, had the Orange made more open shots.

That success on the boards wasn’t going to hold against the Panthers. Au’Diese Toney — of game-winning putback fame — corralled a miss in the middle of the paint and laid in a bucket. Champagnie kept a miss alive and later tipped in a missed triple.

Pitt deserted the 3 ball in favor of drives, and it created extra possessions. The team had six offensive rebounds and eight second-chance points when it took a 30-27 lead.

But key members of Pitt’s frontcourt, Terrell Brown and Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, picked up a pair of fouls each. SU held up enough on the boards to take a five-point lead into halftime despite shooting 1-for-10 from deep.

In the second half, Syracuse continued to prevent Pitt from dominating the boards. Its offense, though, didn’t do enough to keep pace with a strong inside-out Pitt attack that completely exploded. Point guard Joe Girard III finished with two points on 0-for-4 shooting and was benched for the final seven minutes for Kadary Richmond.

SU lost the rebounding battle 47-35, but its defensive issues went far beyond the boards.

Dolezaj in attack mode

It was clear the senior forward emphasized driving to the basket and looking for his own shot more than usual on Saturday. Against North Carolina, he only attempted three shots. At halftime against Pitt, Dolezaj had 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting.

Head coach Jim Boeheim told Dolezaj that Syracuse needs him to be more aggressive in the locker room after the UNC loss.

”He’s making plays, he’s getting people open, but he’s got to score. We need him to try to score,” Boeheim said.

One play against Pitt, Dolezaj caught the ball at the top of the key — a main location on the court where Dolezaj uses his vision to find cutters or deliver dribble handoffs. Dolezaj took one hard dribble to his right, went behind his back to his left to get a step and trotted down a cleared lane for a finger roll. It was one of his smoothest offensive plays of the season.

When Brown was guarding him, Dolezaj often used pump fakes on the slow-footed, block-happy center. He also had a speed advantage over the plodding Coulibaly.

Dolezaj recorded 14 points on 4-for-6 shooting, but SU needed far more from Girard (2 points) and Buddy Boeheim (12 points on 12 shots) to keep up with the Panthers.

Published on January 16, 2021 at 2:21 pm

Contact Danny: [email protected] | @DannyEmerman