Pitt loses to Syracuse, 59-54, Quick Gamer and Some Notes

Not sure what needs to be said about this one other than:

When you miss 10 free throws in 23 attempts (Pitt was 13-of-23 or 56.5 pct) and you miss, oh I don't know, by my count at least eight layups and you don't make a field goal for the final six minutes -- you aren't beating many teams, especially on the road in a conference game.

But that is precisely what Pitt did here against Syracuse - Lamar Patterson's 3-pointer with 5:59 to play that gave Pitt its first second-half lead -- 49-48 -- was also the Panthers last field goal of the game.

The Orange closed on an 10-2 run and won the game at the foul line.

Here is a quick gamer in case you missed it, followed by notes:

SYRACUSE – Syracuse and Pitt renewed all ties Saturday at the Carrier Dome and while both teams have made the jump to the ACC, on this day, a good old fashioned Big East game broke out.

Both teams played great defensively and made it miserable to try and score but in the end, the Orange, thanks to some late game heroics by freshman point guard Tyler Ennis, found a way to win 59-54.

Ennis scored 16 points and had three assists and made the key plays down the stretch to lift the Orange, who trailed 52-49 with a little more than four minutes to play, to the win in come from behind fashion.

Lamar Patterson led Pitt with 18 points and Talib Zanna added 12 points and 11 rebounds but if there was a statistic that killed Pitt it was this – the Panthers were only 54 percent from the free throw line (13-of-24).

Syracuse (18-0, 5-0 in the ACC), which is one of only three unbeaten teams in the country left, led 25-21 at the half but it probably should have been more as Jamie Dixon was assessed a technical foul for arguing about what he thought should have been a foul.

But C.J. Fair missed both free throws and then the Orange turned the ball over and Pitt went into the locker room only down 4.

The Orange came out firing and when Tyler Ennis made a 3-pointer with 14:31 to play it gave the Orange their largest lead of the game at 37-27 and the Panthers seemed to be in danger of getting blown out of the gym.

Patterson then went on a personal 3-point shot spree as he hit three in a row to pull the Panthers back to within 39-36 and from that point on it was a grind.

Patterson’s fourth 3-pointer of the half – with 6:02 to play – gave Pitt its first lead of the second half, 49-48, and then after a Tyler Ennis free throw tied the game, Patterson stretched the lead to 52-49 with two free throws of his own.

But Jerami Grant made two free throws and after a missed shot by Talib Zanna, Tyler Ennis drove the lane for a layup with 1:49 to play to give the Orange a 53-52 lead.

Ennis then made another layup with 28 seconds to play to push the Orange lead to 55-52 and Pitt coach Jamie Dixon called a time-out with 26.6 seconds left to set up a play.

Patterson then missed a 3-pointer with about six seconds to play but Syracuse’s C.J. fair fouled Mike Young, who got the rebound, with 4.7 seconds left and Young made both to pull the Panthers to within 55-54.

But Ennis hit to free throws to push the Orange lead back to 57-54 and, after a Pitt timeout, the Panthers tried to get a 3-pointer for Patterson but Syracuse fouled him with 2.7 seconds left.

Patterson missed both and Rakeem Christmas finished the Panthers (16-2, 4-2) off with two free throws at the other end with 1.2 seconds to play.

News and Notes

** There are two ways to look at this game - "Pitt should have won" and just blew some opportunities or you can do something we never seem to be able to bring ourselves to do in this country - you can also give some credit to Syracuse for winning a tough game. In all honesty, I never thought Syracuse would be tougher than Pitt at the end of a game but that is what happened - the Orange were just a little tougher than the Panthers. Freshman Tyler Ennis made some big plays, they came up with a few big rebounds and they made shots down the stretch with their backs against the wall. Again, one of the big reasons Pitt has owned Syracuse is in general, the Panthers have been tougher down the stretch but that wasn't the case in this one. I think it is one time where the opposite was true - Pitt missed some layups and missed some free throws and when it looked like the Panthers were going to win the game, the Orange stepped up and made some huge plays.

** I thought this was the first game that the four freshmen - at times - played a lot like freshmen in their first hostile environment. I know, I know, they play two road games before this - at N.C. State and at Georgia Tech but this was a whole different level of hostile environment. This was insanity - as loud as any gym as I have been in and frankly, a great, great college basketball atmosphere. At times, Mike Young and Artis and Chris Jones all looked a little bit rattled, a little hurried but that's OK - they are freshmen, they needed to experience this. And it was a great, great sign that Young stepped up to the line with the Panthers trailing 55-52 and 4.8 seconds to play and he knocked them both down. I can tell you, because my seat was right in front of the students - that was as loud as I have ever heard it and given the situation, he could have folded but he calmly hit them both to extend Pitt's chance to win the game. He finished with 6 points and 5 rebounds but he missed a couple of layups early in the game that could have been huge momentum shifts towards the Panthers. Chris Jones missed three free throws but I thought, believe it or not, he played better than he did the other night. He is obviously a little behind the other three freshmen but I do see a lot of ability there and think he is a guy who will just continue to get better. The bottom line - the freshmen are still a work in progress but this was an important experience in their development.

** Lamar Patterson - what more can you say about this guy. I was sitting next to an NBA scout who said he thinks Patterson is an NBA player and he is a wild card kind of player because nobody is sure what position will be his best. But Patterson struggled some in the first half - and just when it looked like the Panthers may get blown out of the gym he hits three consecutive 3-pointers - two of which were from a different area code and one that was from about Buffalo to bring the Panthers all the way back. He is tough, he can score but he is clearly this team's leader and he nearly carried them to a win again. And Talib Zanna, the other senior -- well all he did was register another double-double (12 and 11).

** The size of Syracuse was clearly a factor in this game as well - some of those missed layups were hurried because the Orange were holding a block party at the rim. Syracuse only blocked 7 shots but it seemed like more and when you count altered shots or rushed shots, the Orange's frontcourt probably affected 15 shots of the Panthers - and that is a part of the 18-of-47 from the field Pitt shot.

** Pitt (16-2, 4-1) doesn't have much time to worry about this one - which, you lose on the road in a close game to No. 2 team in the nation, well, it is what it is -- as Clemson (13-4, 4-1) is coming in Tuesday and suddenly the Tigers have moved towards the top of the ACC and are in a second-place tie with Pitt and Virginia. Clemson is on a three-game winning streak with wins over Duke, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. This is the start of a key stretch for the Panthers who play Clemson, then at Maryland and then play home games against Duke and Virginia.