Syracuse;s rally against Pitt fell short and they fell to 9-11 (3-6). After a good first half Syracuse couldn’t come up with enough stops down the stretch.

Here are five observations from the game.

Lucas Taylor played one of his best games of the season recording 12 points and seven rebounds (season high), while he had the highest plus/minus on the team. Taylor was tasked with guarding Pitt’s leading scorer Jaland Lowe and mostly contained Lowe in the first half, as he was 1-4 for five points.

When Taylor was subbed out, Lowe was able to score more easily when defended by JJ Starling or Kyle Cuffe, and finished with 22 points.

Additionally, Taylor had to play well above his average of 21.4 minutes with Starling and Cuffe in foul trouble. He played a season-high 32 minutes only second to Eddie Lampkin Jr.

Syracuse only had 11 turnovers on the game, which is below their season average, but they all seemed to come at key times that either ruined momentum or resulted in a point swing. There were multiple times where a Syracuse player had the ball swiped from behind them and other times where they dropped the ball in the post. The bigs, Lampkin and Jyare Davis combined for five and Chris Bell had two.

On the other side of the ball Pitt only turned the ball over three times and had 10 points off turnovers. The Panthers didn't turn the ball over at all in the second half and shot 58.1% from the field, helping them score 45 points in the period.

Pitt’s head coach Jeff Capel after the game said he knew the Orange would turn the ball over coming into the game, which the Orange averaging the second most turnovers in the ACC.

Syracuse finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds to Pitt’s nine.

But SU wasn't able to capitalize, as both teams finished with 16 second chance points.

Syracuse scored less points in the paint than Pitt even though they rebounded better and took more shots. Starling struggled to finish at the rim as did Lampkin, who in one instance missed three straight shots in close range which led to a Pitt transition 3.

Syracuse had to put away more of their chances near the net as Pitt lacked a true protector at the rim.

Pitt entered as the second best free throw shooting team in the ACC while Syracuse was the second worst.

Pitt outshot SU at the charity stripe, 21-13, and SU connected on only 61.5% from thee.

The game came down to free throws with Pitt up two as Austin made both his tries to put the game away. It just goes to show the little details that go into winning that Syracuse haven’t been able to execute all year.

Lampkin was Syracuse’s best player today, especially on the glass, finishing with 23 rebounds, 15 on defense and eight on offense.

The one big advantage Syracuse had entering the game was rebounding with Syracuse sixth in ACC in rebounding and Pitt in 14th.

Syracuse took full advantage and outrebounded Pitt 48-31 with no one on the Panthers collecting more than eight. Because of this the Orange were able to take more shots and had more second chance opportunities.

However, turnovers and missed chances almost evened the playing field for Pitt who capitalized by shooting better from the field and from the charity stripe.

Additionally, there were multiple instances in the second half where a Syracuse player didn’t box out leading to easy chances for Pitt. Another little detail that impacts winning in the major way.

“I thought we didn’t battle enough in certain parts,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said. “When it came down to it, we didn't make the plays that needed to be made and that was on the defensive end.”

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