Second half spiral leads to third straight loss for Syracuse men’s basketball

Syracuse men’s basketball (11-16, 5-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) let a first half shooting barrage go by the wayside in its 80-69 loss to Pittsburgh (16-10, 7-8 ACC) last night. The Orange came out swinging on the road, shooting 56% from downtown in the first 20 minutes. However, Pitt responded in the second half, taking control down the stretch.

Going into tonight’s contest, coach Adrian Autry and crew were continuing to battle in hopes of making the ACC tournament. Clinging to the 15th and final spot in the conference’s postseason, the Orange still had a lot to play for.

SU was sharp in the first five minutes of the game, as it jumped out to a 9-0 lead, taking advantage of Pitt’s early turnovers. The Panthers had four giveaways and zero points in the first five minutes. As the half went on, the ‘Cuse remained in the driver’s seat, even extending the lead to 22-6 just over nine minutes into the game. From that point, the Orange allowed the Panthers to creep closer. Pitt went on a 7-0 run to get back in it, but Syracuse never allowed coach Jeff Capel’s squad to climb all the way back, at least in the first half.

Syracuse forward Chris Bell had one of his more productive stretches of the year, heading into the locker room with 14 points, going 4-for-6 from three-point land. But as he said after the game, the team did not bring the intensity it needed to finish the deal coming out of the break.

“I feel like we didn’t pick it up on the defensive end; I feel like that’s why we lost the game. Our defensive effort in the second half wasn’t there,” said Bell.

A couple of Syracuse buckets to open the second half gave the ‘Cuse a 45-34 lead, but Pitt would quickly flip the switch. Guard Ishmael Leggett and forward Zack Austin paced the Panthers, who knotted the game up at 51-51 with 13:15 left in the game. Both Leggett and Austin finished with a team high 19 points. When Leggett buried a three-pointer with 9:28 remaining, Pitt regained a lead that it would never succumb.

“Offensively, we got a lot of good shots in the second half, we couldn’t make them,” Autry said after the game. “When you get those looks and you’re not making them, you got to be able to have your defense there to hold teams down until you can get your offense going.”

SU center Eddie Lampkin was noticeably quiet in the loss. The Colorado transfer was coming off of two consecutive twenty-point double-doubles, but was stifled tonight, to the tune of just seven points and six boards. Autry believes one of the biggest keys to Pitt’s win were the double-teams thrown at Syracuse’s big man.

“They did a good job of attacking him, as far as offensively, they came and doubled a lot harder than they did in the past.”

Continuing to out-physical Syracuse, Pittsburgh began to pull away. The Panthers outscored the Orange by ten points in the final ten minutes, winning 80-69. Autry noted that a lifeless offense down the stretch may be what did his team in.

“Typically, [in the] last couple games, that’s what’s happened…we’ve been in those games and then there comes a moment where you’ve got to get a possession, and we have too many empty possessions late in the second half.”

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In the loss, Bell led Syracuse with 23 points. Junior JJ Starling chipped in 14.

With the defeat, Syracuse suffers a season sweep to Pittsburgh, having lost to the Panthers 77-73 at home back on Jan. 25. The Orange have fallen in their last three games, and have already secured the program’s worst win percentage in a season since the 1968-69 campaign. Despite this, Autry’s group is still in that final ACC tournament slot, in front of only NC State, Boston College, and Miami.

Syracuse is back in action next Wednesday, when it takes on NC State at 7 p.m. Catch WAER’s coverage of the game, starting at 6:30, with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff.