New game, same story in Syracuse’s 77-73 loss to Pittsburgh

It sounds like a broken record for Syracuse Men’s Basketball (9-11, 3-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) after each game. That track continued in SU’s 77-73 loss to Pittsburgh (13-5, 4-4 ACC). In the final five minutes, Pitt went 4/6 from the field and 6/8 from the free-throw line. Orange head coach Adrian Autry said it came down to getting stops down the stretch… again.

“When it came down to it, we didn’t make the plays that needed to be made, and that was on the defensive end,” The third-year headman said. “We didn’t get the rebounds that we needed to get. It was very frustrating.”

The Panthers have five players listed at 6 feet 10 inches or taller on their roster. Despite that, the Orange actually won the rebound battle 48-31 behind a career high 23 rebounds from SU center Eddie Lampkin.

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“I was just trying to be aggressive,” The grad student said. “I was just trying to get offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, and just get it to my teammates.”

Ultimately, it wasn’t enough for the Orange, and another recurring trend played a role in the loss: turnovers. After a game with 14 giveaways against Clemson, Syracuse gave Pitt the rock 11 times, which led to 10 points.

The record kept scratching on defense as well. Pitt scored 45 points on 58% shooting in the second half.

“Those moments of the game where I call them tough moments… make that box out, go that extra step, today, we didn’t make those plays,” Autry said.

Syracuse travels coast to coast next Wednesday to take on Stanford at 11 p.m., McClurg Remodeling to Tipoff starts at 10:30.