Syracuse rides hot 3-point shooting to season sweep of Pittsburgh
Syracuse reached double figures in 3-pointers made in a game for the first time in six weeks, riding that shooting to a 69-58 win at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. The Orange (12-5, 3-3 ACC) hit ten shots from behind the arc at a season-high 58.8 percent clip as seven different players made at least one 3. That was part of a strong overall SU effort on offense, as they shot 51.7 percent overall in the first half and 47.2 percent in the game.
The Panthers (10-7, 1-5) could find no such luck, as their 5-for-26 effort from beyond the 3-point line all but doomed them. That poor shooting was part of a solid defensive effort from SU, who held the hosts to 35.4 percent shooting from the field in total and just 1-of-12 from long range in the second half.
While Pitt did a good job chasing down a lot of those misses, they were only able to convert their 15 offensive rebounds into ten points, just four more than Syracuse got out of a half dozen offensive boards.
Pittsburgh needed only a couple minutes to get going on offense, as they rang up seven straight points to cap an 11-3 run for an 11-7 lead less than four-and-a-half minutes into the game. The Orange responded with seven straight markers of their own to regain the lead at 14-11.
The Panthers responded by draining three 3’s in a row for a 9-0 burst for their biggest lead of the night at 20-14 just before midpoint of the half. SU answered with their best stretch of play, ripping off their own run of nine points, only they did not let up, using that as the start of a 20-4 avalanche. Chris Bell and Quadir Copeland were the linchpins of the push that gave Syracuse a 34-24 lead less than three minutes until halftime, scoring seven and six points, respectively.
The Orange would nudge the lead out to a 11 at the break, 37-26, but the hosts would not roll over. Pitt had a 7-2 run a couple minutes after halftime to draw within single digits at 44-36.
SU answered by holding the Panthers scoreless for the next four-plus minutes while stringing together seven straight points to grab a 51-36 advantage and force a timeout. The Orange would stretch the gap out to 16 points on two occasions, but Jaland Lowe would score every point in an 8-2 Pitt run to help bring them within 62-53 with just under four minutes to go.
Syracuse responded by tightening up the defense and knocking down 4-of-6 at the line before J.J. Starling swished a corner 3 to push the lead back to 16 points, giving the Orange a stress-free finish to the game.
Starling topped the Orange offense with 17 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the floor. Judah Mintz supported his backcourt mate, adding team-highs of nine rebounds and five assists to his 14 points. Chris Bell had ten points, all in the first half, while Quadir Copeland added eight.
Jaland Lowe led all scorers in the game, rolling up 20 points for Pittsburgh. Blake Hinson struggled shooting the ball against the Orange once more, following his 3-of-12 effort at Syracuse by going just 4-of-17 at home as he finished with 12 points.
Ishmael Leggett chipped in with eight points. The Panthers’ second-leading scorer, Carlton Carrington, had a night to forget, as he was scoreless on ten shots, including seven attempts from deep.
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