Syracuse rode hot shooting from downtown to pick up its first ACC road win of the season in a 69-58 win over Pitt.

Here are the key takeaways from the evening.

The game turned in SU’s favor after they got consecutive possessions with under six minutes remaining in the first half that resulted in a buzzer-beating 3 from Quadir Copeland and another triple from Judah Mintz to push their lead to 29-22.

Mintz’s shot made it five Syracuse players with a 3-pointer in the opening half as they shot 6-of-10 from long range as a team. They had only once made over six 3’s in a game in their seven previous outings.

J.J. Starling made it six Orange players with a triple on the first possession after the break and Benny Williams added one later in the second half to make it seven different players with a 3-pointer.

Starling’s overall shooting, not just his perimeter work, has picked up lately:

• First ten games – 42-of-107 (39.3 percent) overall, 3-of-24 (12.5 percent) on 3s

• Last eight games – 37-of-72 (51.4 percent) overall, 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) on 3s

Both of Justin Taylor’s 3s against Pitt came from easy actions. Mintz and Copeland each made drives close to Taylor’s defender, drawing a collapse. Both made simple short passes to Taylor, who responded by ringing up a trey each time.

Plays like these (and calling them plays overstates them) are a simple way to get Taylor open looks and should be used a couple times each half while he is on the floor to help him help the offense.

Before this game, the Orange were 22-of-93 (23.7 percent) in ACC games. Their 10-for-17 effort lifted them to a 29.1 percent mark in conference play.

The team’s 3-point shooting against Pitt illustrates SU’s need to play well on offense and get the lead, as they did in this game. They entered the game shooting 31.5 percent from deep, which ranked 279th nationally.

Their generally questionable perimeter shooting, when combined with their low 3-point rate (33.8 percent of all field goals entering the game, ranked 276th in the country) makes comeback efforts an even more difficult feat.

Once the Orange fell behind by ten points to Tennessee, they could get no closer than three the rest of the way. They fell behind Gonzaga by ten points in the first 4:30 of play and only got within six. Once up double figures, Virginia never allowed SU within single digits again while Duke allowed them within eight and North Carolina nine. Syracuse struggles to score in bunches, making a double-digit deficit essentially death.

Minutes at the center spot were divvied out in unusual fashion. Peter Carey passed Mounir Hima in the rotation, getting two brief first half stints that totaled 5:10 of game time, but he picked up three fouls in that time.

The redshirt freshman made a cameo of another 1:50 in the second half, but that ended with his fourth foul about 24 feet from the basket when he reached in on a Pitt player. Carey jumping into the second unit was possibly a result of his activity level late in the North Carolina blowout.

Benny Williams was the SU center for a stretch in the second half, at one point joined by Justin Taylor and three guards, including Kyle Cuffe. Cuffe was replaced on the floor by Maliq Brown, briefly giving the Orange a “big” lineup of Brown, Williams, and Taylor in the frontcourt.

Hima still played the final 31 seconds of the first half, replacing Maliq Brown for the last defensive possession.

Syracuse (11-5, 2-3 ACC) will return home for their next three games, starting with a Saturday matinee against Miami. The Hurricanes (12-4, 3-2) had dropped two straight in conference play until bouncing back with a victory at Virginia Tech on Saturday night, 75-71, and will host Florida State on Wednesday before traveling further north to take on SU.

Four different Miami players average at least 13.6 points per game, led by rugged forward Norchad Omier. Omier, who has seven double-doubles on the season already, averages 17.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Guards Matthew Cleveland, Wooga Poplar, and Nijel Pack combine for over 45 points per game and each shoot over 44 percent from 3-point range for the ‘Canes, who are shooting 40.7 percent from beyond the arc on the season as a team, good for fourth in the nation.

The Orange and Hurricanes will tip off at 12:00pm Eastern on Saturday and the game will be televised on ESPN2.

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