Pittsburgh roared back from an early 17-point deficit, including a dominant second half effort, in claiming a home victory over Syracuse, 80-69. The Panthers (16-10, 7-8) shot 62.5 percent from the field in the second half, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range in completing their comeback. Meanwhile, the Orange (11-16, 5-11 ACC) fell for the seventh time in nine games when their offense went into the deep freeze, as they mustered just nine field goals after making that number of 3-pointers in the first half.

Nine was also the number of 2-point shots SU made in the game, as they shot a woeful 33.3 percent inside the arc on the night. Syracuse helped their efforts in the first half with a plus-8 rebounding advantage, but game that all back in the second session, as well as turnin the ball over 14 times in the game.

The Orange got out of the blocks quick, as J.J. Starling had a quick five points to trigger a 9-0 burst while the SU defense forced six missed shots and four turnovers by Pittsburgh. The Panthers worked their way back within six, but Jaquan Carlos whipped a cross-court pass for a Chris Bell 3, then turned a steal into a lay-up for a 16-6 Syracuse lead before the game was seven minutes old.

Bell tacked on two more triples coming out of the under-12 media break to make it 11 straight Orange points to push the lead to 16 and force a Pitt time out. The reset helped the hosts, as they responded with the next seven points to slice the SU lead down to 22-13.

Syracuse pushed the lead out to a dozen again, but the Panthers quickly halved it at 27-21. Once again, the Orange surged out to a bigger lead, as Starling hit a pair of 3-pointers and Kyle Cuffe Jr. scored in transition to push the margin out to 35-24. Pittsburgh worked the game to within seven twice, including 41-34 at halftime.

SU got two quick baskets to open the second half, but the Panthers clawed back with a 9-3 run to pull within 48-43 before two minutes had elapsed. The hosts added a triple coming out of the first media break to get within two, then tied it at 51 less than seven minutes after intermission.

Syracuse held on for another couple minutes, including regaining a 56-53 lead. Pittsburgh took command through ten straight points that gave them a 63-56 advantage. Bell was the only Orange player to score for over nine minutes of play, hitting a pair of 3’s, but those were the only SU points in what the Panthers would turn into a 19-6 run for a 72-62 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Bell led all scorers with 23 points in the game, including connecting from long range seven times. Starling had 14 points, 11 coming in the first half. Carlos had eight points and Eddie Lampkin seven.

Zack Austin and Ishmael Leggett paced the Panther attack with 19 points each, the former adding three steals and three blocks. Jaland Lowe piled up 17 points while Brandin Cummings added 11. Guillermo Diaz Graham chipped in with eight points to go with four blocks.

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