Highlights & Recap: Syracuse Basketball Beats Pitt in ACC Home Opener

The Orange snapped a three game losing streak to the Panthers.
Highlights & Recap: Syracuse Basketball Beats Pitt in ACC Home Opener
Highlights & Recap: Syracuse Basketball Beats Pitt in ACC Home Opener /
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It would be a stretch to call a game at the end of December a must-win.

But Syracuse men’s basketball picked up a crucial 81-73 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Panthers in a highly entertaining topsy-turvy affair at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday afternoon. The win snapped the Orange's three game losing streak to its conference rival. 

Syracuse (10-3, 1-1 in the ACC) outscored the Panthers 51-35 in the second half, coming back from as far behind as 11 to electrify the crowd of 20,642. Quadir Copeland, Maliq Brown, and Benny Williams all made significant contributions off the bench to key the comeback.

“I was just proud of the way this team battled back in the second half,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said. “I thought the crowd was phenomenal. They gave us a huge lift, and it felt like the Dome. That’s what I remember from when I played.

The Orange used a 14-3 run early in the second half to take a 44-43 lead with 14:07 left.

With the game regaining the back-and-forth, the Orange came up with the decisive run. A dunk from Brown and an acrobatic score from Copeland made it 65-61 with 4:21 left.

After the Panthers missed the front end of a one-and-one, Williams drove in and scored at the other end to make it a six-point game and followed it up with both ends of a one-and-one to make it 69-61 moments later.

Following a less-than-satisfactory finish to the Niagara game, things once again got nervy as the Orange committed a few turnovers, and the Panthers shrunk an 11-point deficit down to six with 35 seconds left.

But the Orange held their nerve, getting a defensive stop and making 5-of-6 from the foul line in the final minute.

Copeland’s stardom continued to grow with a career-high 22 points off the bench to lead all scorers. Most of his work came from the free-throw line (he made 13-of-15 attempts) but he also hit his first three-pointer of the season and contributed nine rebounds and four assists.

“I’m just looking to see how much I can make an impact on the game,” Copeland said. “I feel like I’m the energy-changer. If the game’s going good, I’m going to make it go better. If it’s not, I’m gonna try and get it right back on track.”

Even against a bigger Panthers team, Brown saw a lot of time in the middle. He had 15 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench.

Williams also added 15 points in 24 minutes off the bench in his most impactful performance of the season.

“I thought Benny was great,” Autry said. “He came in with great energy and you could just see it in the last couple of weeks, he’s just been taking that turn and I’m just so excited for him because he stayed with it.”

It all added up to a 52-17 advantage in points off the bench for the Orange.

“We don’t rely on five guys,” Autry said. “We rely on eight, nine, 10 guys. This is how this team is built.”

Judah Mintz struggled to get going for much of the game, finishing with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting while adding five assists in more of a floor general role.

Syracuse shot 47 percent from the floor, 24-of-30 from the free-throw line, and managed to get the positive result despite making just 3-of-17 attempts from three.

Panthers forward Blake Hinson came in averaging better than 20 points per game but finished with just 11 points on 3-for-12 shooting.

It was a hard-fought, entertaining first half with the teams struggling to gain much separation.

That changed when Mintz barreled into Hinson, resulting in an offensive foul. Mintz reacted angrily but Autry drew a technical foul for his dissent.

The Panthers hit the resulting free throws and made the Orange pay when Carlton Carrington drained a three on the next possession to make it 38-28 with 39 seconds left in the half.

A put-back dunk from Williams made it 38-30 heading into the half.

The Orange came into the afternoon 83rd in the NCAA’s NET ratings but scored its best win of the season against a Panthers team that was 41st in the rankings. For now, it will go in the books as a Quadrant 2 win but it will still be a significant boost to Syracuse’s resume.

Syracuse returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to face Duke. Tip-off is at 9 p.m.

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