Syracuse falls just short in late rally, edged by Pitt 84-82

Even in paradise, the sun sets. For Syracuse men’s basketball that paradise was its five-game winning streak. The Pittsburgh Panthers (9-4, 2-0 ACC) played spoiler in an 84-82 victory over the Orange (8-5, 1-1 ACC) that came all the way down to the buzzer.

With just under 11 minutes left in regulation, Pitt boasted a 20-point lead over the ‘Cuse. 10 minutes later, the Panthers were clinging to a one-point advantage. That came moments after SU senior Joe Girard III buried his third triple of the night, ejecting life into the Dome crowd that didn’t have a whole lot to cheer about for most of the game.

An offensive foul on the ensuing Pittsburgh possession set the Orange up with a chance to take the lead. But a turnover from Judah Mintz in the closing seconds gave the Panthers just enough to squeak past Syracuse.

“We wanted to get it to Jesse,” head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame. “They doubled him and we didn’t recognize it and threw the ball to Pittsburgh. Just not a good read.”

Turnovers weren’t the problem for Syracuse all night; the Orange finished with nine to the Panthers' 16. Instead, it was Pitt’s air raid from deep and the ‘Cuse's inability to keep up. Pittsburgh connected on eight of its 19 three-point attempts in the first half, handing the Panthers a 41-33 lead going into the locker room. On the other side, Syracuse missed its first eight attempts from beyond the arc before Judah Mintz buried the first long ball with 6:01 to go in the half.

“When you’re shooting 15 percent from the three, that’s not a good formula to keep shooting threes,” Boeheim said. “That’s about all I can say about that.”

One guy who had no issues from downtown was Pittsburgh’s Nelly Cummings. He hit six triples. The Colgate transfer finished with 22 points on the night and hit as many threes as the entire Syracuse team combined. Coincidentally, when Cummings and Colgate came to the Dome last season and pummeled SU 100-85, the guard also hit six threes. To Boeheim, it’s less to do with the Dome and more with the shooter he is.

“He makes shots,” Boeheim stated. “He makes shots, he’s a good player.”

On the freshman side, Quadir Copeland made one of the biggest plays of the night. The guard hucked up an off-balance three-ball from the left wing and got it to fall while absorbing contact. Copeland’s free throw made it a four-point play and sparked the late rally that almost led to a ‘Cuse win. It wasn’t just one play; the freshman was a huge catalyst down the stretch, scoring 10 points, grabbing five rebounds, and blocking two shots in 12 minutes of action.

Judah Mintz was one of the few silver linings in the defeat. The freshman notched a team-high 24 points paired with five rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Jesse Edwards was in foul trouble for most of the game and finished with eight points, nine boards, and six blocks.

Playing from behind has become the norm for Syracuse. Despite coming into the night on a five-game win streak and looking for its second conference win, the Orange have struggled at the start in three straight games against Georgetown, Monmouth, and Cornell. All of those saw SU wake up in the second half, with the offense and defense finally clicking. After the game, Boeheim had the chance to speak on his team’s lack of effort.

“It’s hard when your team’s two starting forwards just don’t have the effort there,” Boeheim said. [Syracuse’s two starting forwards, Chris Bell and Benny Williams, combined for just a total of seven points in the loss.] “I don’t know what their game is or what they think it is, but there’s no effort. If you don’t have effort you can’t play this game.”

@Cuse_MBB on Twitter

Next up for the Orange is a New Year’s Eve date with Boston College in the JMA Wireless Dome. Syracuse holds the series advantage over the Eagles as of late; the ‘Cuse has won eight straight against BC. SU looks for number nine next Saturday at 2:00 with WAER’s Coverage starting at 1:30 with McClurg Team Countdown to Tipoff.