Pitt scores 45 second-half points to drop Syracuse
Pitt scores 45 second-half points to drop Syracuse
Defense fails Orange once again as Panthers shoot 58% in the second half.

After an abysmal showing, on the road against Clemson this past Wednesday; The Orange were in the dome on Saturday afternoon looking to get back to .500 yet again. Despite leading at the half, the Orange lost the game 77-73.
The game started off hot for the Orange who knocked down their first six straight shots. Opening a 13-2 run, started off by a stepback three from JJ Starling.
Starling only played nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble and did not have another bucket, an abnormally quiet half for the star point guard.
Nonetheless, Jaquan Carlos would come in and command the offense holding tight for a one point lead at the half.
“I thought JC came in and did a good job to get us to halftime,” said Head Coach Adrian Autry.
Every starter scored in the first half, with Lucas Taylor leading the way with six points. Jyare Davis and Eddie Lampkin each added five points.
When Lampkin went out, Petar Majstorovic gave the Orange a much needed boost. Majstorovic started it off getting stops on the defensive end.
Pitt attacked him the first possession he was in the game. Majstorovic stood tall, then came down on the offensive end, attacked the basket and got to the foul line. He would end the half with six points, including a three pointer, and three rebounds.

“I thought Petar gave us a bit more balance filing in,” Autry said. “Petar’s a role player that relishes his role.”
Lampkin also contributed 12 first half rebounds, playing big on the defensive end, while getting his team second chances on the offensive end.
This would all come to a halt for the Orange who closed the half only making two of their last 12 shots.
The second half was not kind to the Orange and eventually became the story of the game. Syracuse started out slow to begin the half while Pitt came out firing on all cylinders. Pitt scored 45 points in the second half, leading to their first win in two weeks.
Syracuse found themselves out of position a lot in the second half. Autry said the defense was out of rotation, and in turn Pitt got a lot of drives to the paint, kick-out threes and most of all; rebounds.
While the box score won’t tell the full story about the rebounding battle because as a team Syracuse won the battle by 17; the timely rebounds and second chance points were what killed the Orange today, according to Autry.

“You could look at all the stat sheets, but it came down to us not getting the rebounds when we needed to get them,” coach Autry said. “We had a lot of opportunities around the basket that we didn’t cash in on, but when it came down to it, we didn’t make the plays that needed to be made.”
For Pitt, the second half was all about Jaland Lowe. Ishmael Leggett carried Pitt through the first half finishing with 12 points, however he stalled in the second half only scoring four more. The second half became the Lowe show. After only having five points and two assists in the first half he finished with 22 points and six assists.
“I think there’s a belief that he has in himself the work that he puts in on his game,” said Pitt coach Jeff Capel.


Starling also got back to himself, eventually finishing with 16 points but it would not be enough. Down the stretch it seemed whenever Syracuse made a big bucket, Pitt came down and stunned the team and crowd with a bucket of its own.
“Each time it seemed like we stepped up and made it, whether it was a three or a mid-range jumpshot, something to the basket, keeping the offensive possession alive Dame [Dunn] leading to a basket for us,” said coach Capel.
Eventually time ran out for the Orange who could never string together enough stops.
Next week, the Orange travel to the west coast for a week to face Stanford and Cal before coming back home Feb. 5th to face the top team in the ACC, Duke. The Orange are on a two game losing streak with only one road win this season. The team will have their work cut out for them to try to bounce back.