Syracuse Suffers Worst Loss of Season, Falls at Pittsburgh

The Orange is now two games under .500.

Mike McAllister | Jan 25, 2022

Syracuse Suffers Worst Loss of Season, Falls at Pittsburgh /

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Pittsburgh dominated the second half as Syracuse was embarrassed on the road 64-53 in what is easily the worst loss of a poor season. The Orange dropped to 9-11 (3-6) on the season. Pittsburgh improved to 8-12 (3-6). Next up for Syracuse is a home matchup against Wake Forest on Saturday.

The first half was ugly on both ends for both teams. Neither team shot the ball well and both teams had unforced turnovers. Syracuse jumped out to an early lead that was as high as 10 at one point, but Pittsburgh battled back with dominance on the offensive glass leading to extra possessions and second chance opportunities. The Panthers outrebounded the Orange by nine in the first half, including by six on the offensive end.

Syracuse was without Symir Torrence in this game as he is out for the foreseeable future with a knee injury. Joe Girard struggled in this one, but the Orange had nowhere else to go at the point guard spot without Torrence. Girard was held scoreless until the final 40 seconds and turned it over six times.

About seven minutes into the second half, Pittsburgh took its first lead of the game after a layup by Femi Okudale. Jamarius Burton found his shot from the outside and drilled a three with 11:33 left to give the Panthers a four point edge. After going just 1-14 from beyond the arc in the first half, Pitt hit five of its first seven to start the second. That was all part of a 10-0 run from Pittsburgh that turned a three point deficit into a seven point lead.

Even when Pittsburgh went in a scoring draught, Syracuse could not capitalize as the Orange missed all but one of its three point attempts in the second half and shot under 30% overall after intermission. Buddy Boeheim was the only Syracuse in double figures.

Syracuse held a four point lead at the half, but allowed Pitt, a poor shooting team, to shoot 50% overall and from three point range in the second half. The Panthers outscored the Orange 40-25 after halftime.

Published Jan 25, 2022

MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting. EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans. After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years. Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports. Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College.