Pittsburgh smashes Syracuse on the charts; Orange fails to score (fast hits by Donna Ditota)

Syracuse, NY – We had news before the ball was even released on Wednesday afternoon.

It’s been that kind of season in college basketball. In general it has been that kind of year.

None of the teams had played for some time because of Covid’s positive tests on their own program or positive tests on the opposing teams’ programs.

Either way, Syracuse galloped to an 11-0 lead and then dropped to a 32-18 lead in the interval. It wouldn’t last. An Au’Diese Toney kick-in, combined with SU’s inability to inbound the ball with 5.2 seconds remaining sealed him to the Panthers. Final score: Pittsburgh 63, Syracuse 60.

The Panthers overcame the Orange 45-28 in the second half. Syracuse already led 18 in the first half.

Here’s what happened:

Neither Bourama Sidibe nor Frank Anselem they were dressed in SU uniforms or available for Wednesday’s game. Sidibe, who returned to practice after surgery to repair his meniscus in early December, felt knee pain repaired after training on Tuesday and was a scratch on Wednesday against the Panthers.

Anselem, said SU basketball spokesman Pete Moore, has not yet been medically released from Orange’s recent Covid quarantine and has not yet trained with the team. Anselem is out of quarantine, as evidenced by the fact that he was at the gym, warming up and interacting with his teammates.

Sidibe, whom his teammates consider his leader, had a great place on the Orange “bench” (the players are cornered in a corner). He spent part of the game standing and shouting instructions to his teammates.

Syracuse came out of the gate in figurative flames. Orange led 11-0 after hitting 3 points from Alan Griffin (2) and Buddy Boeheim. So Boeheim fed Griffin in a prolonged counterattack. SU hit 7 out of 19 from the 3-point line in that first half. Orange, as a team, had been lumpy from long distance all season. I asked Joe Girard how much the team was able to kick the ball during the Covid break and he said that players could use firearms at Melo Center to work on their jumpers.

Then, SU cooled down dramatically and had trouble scoring to close the first half. These problems continued.

The Orange, perhaps overflowing with confidence in the first half of the 3-point line, he continued to beat them in the second half. The problem was that, this time, very few of those shots were fired. Syracuse, as a team, converted just 10 field goals in the second half.

SU was 4 out of 19 from the 3-point line after the break. Buddy Boeheim is still trying to find his shot. He had 2 out of 10 out of 3 against the Panthers.

Pittsburgh looked lost the tip of this game. Playing without his best player (Justin Champagnie) and three other guys who were observing Covid’s contact tracking protocols, the Panthers struggled to do the kicks. Pittsburgh scored 18 goals at halftime. The Panthers were 6 out of 28 in total and 1 out of 12 on the 3-point line in the range.

It didn’t help that the versatile guard Xavier Johnson, a Pitt veteran, was limited to five minutes in the first half because of problems.

He was back to start the second half and the Panthers benefited from his score, his speed, his distance from the jump and his general arrogance.

Robert Braswell was the first SU striker outside the bank, which generated a lot of speculation on social networks. Where was Woody Newton? People wanted to know.

Newton played well in his limited minutes this season. He was at Wednesday’s game. He put on his Syracuse uniform. He warmed up. He didn’t play in the first half.

He took action at the start of the second half. He didn’t play much.

And Braswell was good. At one point in the second half, with SU clinging to a four-point lead, he drained three shots from three consecutive points. They were all assisted by Alan Griffin. And Orange suddenly took 44-33. Braswell finished with 12 points.

Quincy Guerrier had been from Syracuse most trusted player this season. But the Orange striker was in big trouble for most of Wednesday’s game and was not a big factor. He lasted 30 seconds in the second half before scoring his fourth foul.

This was problematic for a number of reasons, the main one being that SU was already playing small without Sidibe and Guerrier is clearly SU’s best rebound.

Pittsburgh won the board battle on Wednesday. He decisively crushed the orange in the glass. This repercussion gap was costly for SU, especially in the closing moments, when Au’Diese Toney failed and gave Pitt the advantage 5.2 seconds from the end.

Final rebound result: Pittsburgh 49, Syracuse 33. Toney, who is six feet tall, picked up 14 boards.

This and that: Pittsburgh was without Noah Collier, Nike Sibande and John Hugley because of Covid-19’s contact tracking problems. Panthers’ best player, Justin Champagnie, was unable to play because of a knee injury. Champagnie made the trip to Syracuse. … Syracuse paid homage to the great football player Floyd Little before the game. Little died earlier this month from cancer. He was under palliative care. … Marek Dolezaj curiously did not get involved in the game after an offensive spurt in the first half. Pitt was small to start the game, but then inserted 1.80m Terrell Brown, who was more difficult to score and really made the difference for Pittsburgh, who came to him at the end of the game down the hall. Dolezaj finished with nine points in 40 minutes. He fired five shots. … Syracuse has a stationary bike located near its “bank”. Kadary Richmond is a frequent user of this bike (obviously when he’s not in the game, because that would be weird.) … Pittsburgh was 1 out of 12 out of 3 in the first half. The Panthers were much better there in the second half, with 6 out of 16. Johnson’s huge wing 3 with 1:49 remaining tied the game at 57. … Paint spots and that was pretty big: SU was outperformed on 28- 12 in the painting.

More Syracuse basketball:

Do you rate the orange after the loss to Pittsburgh

Syracuse-Pittsburgh box score

Syracuse guard Joe Girard Q and A: What has happened since Covid’s break?

ACC Power Rankings: What is Syracuse’s position when he returns to training?