Syracuse Falls at Pittsburgh For Third Straight Loss

Syracuse played well on the road for the first half but the defensive execution slipped in the second as Pittsburgh defeated the Orange 99-82 inside the Petersen Events Center on Saturday. With the loss, Syracuse dropped to 16-13 (9-9) on the season. Next up are back to back home games to end the regular season against Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.

In the first half, the Orange zone was excellent. It rotated well, covered Pittsburgh's shooters and forced tough shots. Despite giving up offensive rebounds, Syracuse held the Panthers to just 31% shooting overall and 24% from beyond the arc. The second half, however, was far different.

The Syracuse defense was not nearly as active and Pittsburgh took advantage of better looks from the outside as the game snowballed away from the Orange. Pitt made 10 second half threes shooting 55% from the outside and over 63% from the floor overall while it dropped 62 second half points. That was the difference in the game as the offense did more than enough to be competitive and/or win the game.

The Orange shot 50% from the floor for the game, 56% from three point range and scored 82 points.

There were significant changes to the starting lineup as Justin Taylor and Benny Williams started in place of Chris Bell and Maliq Brown. Bell did not play while Brown saw only six minutes of action. Williams played well, scoring 24 points, grabbing nine rebounds and making five three pointers. Joe Girard added 19 points, Jesse Edwards contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Judah Mintz had 16 points and five assists. Justin Taylor was scoreless in 16 minutes.

Pittsburgh was led by Blake Hinson, who scored 22 point on 6-20 shooting (6-17 from three). Greg Elliott scored 19 points with five made threes. Nelly Cummings scored 14 points and dished out 13 assists. Jamarius Burton also scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out eight assists.

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