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Syracuse entered tonight’s game following a blowout loss to Duke and the loss of Symir Torrence to a knee injury. The Orange needed to pick up a win after dropping below .500 once again against the Blue Devils.

But Syracuse (9-11, 3-6 Atlantic Coast) will have to wait another game for a win as the Orange dropped 64-53 to Pittsburgh (8-12, 3-6 ACC). Despite missing its most important bench player in Torrence, Syracuse never turned to its bench to rest Buddy Boeheim or Joe Girard III until the latter picked up an injury in the second half. But the game was decided on the boards as the Panthers racked up second-chance opportunities en route to pulling off an upset victory.

Here are three observations from Syracuse’s 11-point loss to Pittsburgh. 

No Torrence, no changes

Coming into the game, the Orange knew they would be without Torrence, their biggest producer off the bench. At the weekly ACC coaches’ call, head coach Jim Boeheim said Cole Swider or even walk-on Paddy Casey could help fill the void left by Torrence. In the first half, it was neither of them because Girard nor Buddy stepped off the court.

The starting backcourt duo already plays a large chunk of minutes each game for Syracuse, and Torrence would have been able to give Syracuse a different look, one that drives into the lane and opens up opportunities for other Orange players. It also took away Syracuse’s three-guard lineup Boeheim has turned to late in games.

But without the possibility of Torrence to provide some relief, Girard struggled in the first half, going scoreless. Girard also had his pocket picked from behind as he brought the ball up the court, as he had one arm raised in the air, presumably to call a play. As the Panthers’ player wheeled away in the opposite direction, Girard slowly jogged back in frustration.

In the first half, Boeheim turned to center Frank Anselem and gave rare minutes to John Bol Ajak off the bench, but no rest for the guards.

Even out of halftime, the likes of Casey and even Benny Williams continued to be rooted to the bench. Boeheim finally made a switch at guard, but only after he was forced to. Girard drove into the paint for a layup, but as he fell back down he landed on his left arm and clutched it in pain, forcing the Orange to make a switch.

Surprisingly, Boeheim turned to Ajak again and pushed Swider up to the guard spot, leaving Syracuse with no natural ball handlers. Girard eventually returned to the game but continued to be ineffective. 

First half: all Buddy, no one else

The four-point halftime lead Syracuse had was due in large part to Buddy’s shooting. Syracuse’s leading scorer posted half of the Orange’s points with 14. Buddy shot 4-for-10 from 3 as he appeared to regain confidence from deep after struggling against Duke.

Buddy started with a 3 by curling around an off-ball screen to gain some separation. After making his first shot, Buddy later gathered the ball deep on the right wing. As a Pittsburgh defender came up to guard him, Buddy stared him down and pretended to dribble, but instead jumped up to shoot a long 3.

But the rest of the Orange did not seem to be on the same page as Buddy. Girard didn’t score in the first half, forcing long 3s that rimmed out. Swider hit his first shot of the game but then only added a free throw later on with many shots that were blocked and rimmed out.

Syracuse managed to find Jimmy Boeheim open for a 3 on the wing, but his shot went far too long and airballed. As the ball was falling out of bounds, Swider jumped and grabbed it mid-air before turning around and throwing it in the direction of a Syracuse teammate. The ball fell to Buddy way outside the 3-point line, but because Jimmy had airballed, the shot clock was down to six seconds and Buddy was forced to rise for a long 3. With that make, Buddy provided another instance in the first half where he had to bail out the Orange offense with a tough shot. 

Panthers allowed to shoot till they make them

While only Buddy was shooting well for Syracuse, Pittsburgh shot poorly across the board. The Panthers failed to set up a consistent offense in the first half. Once, with the Panthers dribbling the ball on the right side of the court, they threw the ball across so high that it sailed over a leaping player and into the stands. 

While passes failed to connect, so did a lot of shots. The Panthers airballed multiple 3s and had jumpers fall short over and over again. But as both teams missed a plethora of shots, it was Pitt who managed to grab offensive rebounds to extend plays. 

Panthers big man John Hugley snagged 13 rebounds in just the first half. Notably, eight of those 13 rebounds were on the offensive end. His counterpart, Jesse Edwards, managed just two rebounds in the same amount of time. 

Pitt scored 10 second-chance points after sporting an 11-5 margin on the offensive glass. That advantage helped the Panthers overcome a 1-for-14 performance from 3. The offensive rebounds hadn’t meant much in the first half as a lot of the second opportunities didn’t go in. But Pitt capitalized where Syracuse continued to fail on the boards. Swider missed a jumper and Jimmy couldn’t stretch high enough to get a rebound and it was tipped by a Pitt player. On the other end, Femi Odukale drove in for a layup that gave Pitt the lead.

Soon after, Pittsburgh missed a long 3 from Nate Santos, Noah Collier grabbed another rebound over Jimmy and dished to Jamarius Burton for a 3. In the first half, the second-chance opportunities were wasted, but eventually, the Panthers were back on track and eventually didn’t need to grab rebounds as shots began to pour in on the first attempt.

Published on January 25, 2022 at 10:19 pm

Contact Gaurav: gshetty@syr.edu