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PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Head coach Adrian Autry said Syracuse’s squad watched the tape of the blowout loss against No. 7 North Carolina together. The Orange, after suffering their worst loss since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, knew they needed a spark.

How did they do this? By shooting the lights out against Pittsburgh in a seemingly empty Petersen Events Center, a venue once known for its frenzied environments against conference foes.

Shooting, particularly from deep, has been a struggle at times for Syracuse (12-5, 3-3 Atlantic Coast). Over the past month, SU had failed to shoot over 45% from beyond the arc and last made over 10 3-pointers against Cornell on Dec. 5. Against Pittsburgh (10-7, 1-5 ACC), though, Syracuse shot 47.2% from the field and 58.8% from 3, the latter being a season-high in the 69-58 win, the first Quad 1 victory of the year for the team.

Autry said it was SU’s best offensive game of the season. The improved shooting from the Orange came against the 10th-best 3-point defense in the country heading into today, with seven different players making at least one 3-point shot.

“That hasn’t happened all year,” Autry said. “So those are the things that we talked about leading up to this game offensively.”

The Orange didn’t need to shoot much with a season-low 53 field goal attempts, or rely on Judah Mintz, who scored 14 points on 3-of-12 shooting. Instead, Autry said tonight was Mintz’s “best floor game” of the season by finishing with five assists and nine rebounds.

Syracuse needed this non-scoring because the contest opened up sloppy and ugly.

SU players were slipping left and right on the court and there were some clear errors. Just over eight minutes into the game, J.J. Starling, who faced tight pressure from Pitt’s defense, threw an errant pass out of bounds to no one except an assistant coach on the Panthers’ bench.

Even backup center Peter Carey, who recorded seven minutes, got chippy with Panthers players down low.

The chippy nature of the game became physical in the second half after a battle for the ball at midcourt. Benny Williams and Quadir Copeland were in the middle of a scrum with Pitt’s Blake Hinson and Jaland Lowe. Hinson shoved Copeland, who was lying on the hardwood, which caused Williams and the guard to go face-to-face. Williams had to be pulled back by Ishmael Leggett and Copeland eventually got pulled back by Autry. The fracas resulted in offsetting technicals for Williams and Hinson.

Even with the physicality, both teams took part in trying to one up each other from the 3-point line. Two Pitt bounce passes lead to an open 3 from Leggett. He pump faked on the leaping Kyle Cuffe Jr. to fool him. Then on the 3-point shot, Leggett swished the shot and increased the Panther lead. But Cuffe Jr. responded with an immediate 3-pointer.

Throughout the game, the Orange seemed to take much joy in scoring against the Panthers. In the first half, Mintz, the former Pitt recruit, celebrated a 3-pointer right in front of the Panthers’ bench. Minutes later, Copeland turned around on a fast break to celebrate as Chris Bell scored an uncontested layup.

Mintz said he was happy to stick it to SU’s rival, but wished more people were here to see it.

“Last year, they called out ‘Traitor!’ while I was shooting free throws so I don’t think today was that bad,” Mintz said with a smile.

Syracuse then went on a 23-6 run over the first half’s final 10 minutes to build an 11-point halftime lead. The Orange made Jeff Capel’s defense look lethargic. The Panthers, typically showing off a 3-2 zone defense, failed to account for SU’s passes to the 3-point line. Bell received passes at both the wings and corners, nailing the shots in his defenders’ faces. He finished 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

Autry said the 3-point success came from his team’s ability to pass at the perimeter instead of trying to finish against a double team near the hoop. This led to assists on all 10 of SU’s made 3-pointers.

“Today we really attacked the lane, looked at our shot and then kicked it out,” Autry said. “…All the shots were in rhythm. I didn’t think there were any forced shots, no one dribble, just pulling up in transition.”

To start the final 20 minutes, Starling hit another 3 while Copeland continued on the hot shooting by driving from the right side of the lane making a slick reverse layup.

Meanwhile on the other end of the floor, Pitt struggled to get anything going. Blake Hinson, the ACC’s leading 3-point scorer, dominated inside initially, but then kept misfiring 3-pointers from the top of the key. Early in the second half, Hinson attempted a wide open 3-pointer from the Pitt logo. But he bricked the shot, leading to boos from the home crowd.

Everything seemed to go right for the Orange as the game rolled along. After Starling made a fadeaway jumper from the charity stripe, Mintz tried to score on the next possession, only to get rejected by Zack Austin. Following the block, the Panther forward tried to save the ball from going out of bounds. However, Austin’s pass led to Williams gaining possession and scoring on a dunk, forcing a timeout from Capel as the Orange’s lead to a 15.

Along with making a crowd-silencing 3-pointer, Williams made a step-back jumper to compound the Pitt misery. Starling did something of that nature to the Panthers as well over a minute later on a turnaround jump shot. He finally acknowledged the hot shooting night (7-of-10) by celebrating as he walked back to the other end of the floor.

Even with SU only up by 15 points, Starling’s celebration seemed to signify a win against a team that looked defeated for the whole second half. Panthers like Lowe tried to make this a game with nine straight Pitt points. But after clutch offensive rebounds from both Brown and Mintz, Starling nailed another fadeaway jumper.

In fact, Starling made the Orange’s final 3-pointer of the night as many Pittsburgh fans headed for the exits.

Starling said the Orange practiced in the days since the UNC loss on driving and kicking out for 3-point shots, noting it goes “hand and hand” with “team basketball.” And if the Orange want to have sustained success, Starling said they need to do this again and again.

“Just looking to get open shots and not contest someone,” Starling said. “It really works when we’re driving and kicking and that’s what we did today.”

Published on January 16, 2024 at 9:36 pm

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