Syracuse rallied from down 20 points, but couldn’t push past Pitt, losing 84-82 at the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday night. Here are some quick hits from the game:
- Jesse Edwards’ last field goal attempt of the first half came with 9:33 on the clock. Edwards got his next shot just over four minutes into the second half, then committed his fourth foul on the Panthers’ next offensive possession. While Pitt was focused on double-teaming Edwards (Syracuse’s lack of consistent outside shooting enabled them to have as many as three players ready to help against the center on some possessions), his teammates still have to keep trying to get the big man involved at the forefront of their minds.
- First half three-point shooting was tilted entirely in Pitt’s direction. The Panthers shot 8-of-19 from long range while the Orange could muster just one triple out of a dozen attempts. SU finishing the first half with five more free throws helped keep them within eight at the break.
- Things were not much better inside the arc for the Syracuse zone in the first half. Pitt shot 8-of-11 from inside the arc before the break.
- Just start Maliq Brown. He’s the only forward on the roster who has established a reasonable expectation of what he will do while on the floor. Rebounding, the occasional basket, and a couple “Johnny-on-the-spot” plays are not particularly exciting, but they are often better than what the other forwards have to offer. Brown is averaging 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 20 minutes per game in the last four outings, bested only by Benny Williams in scoring (10.3 points, but only 3.5 rebounds in 24 minutes per game in that span).
- Quadir Copeland was this game’s other winner of the forwards’ playing time lottery. He played a significant role in SU’s furious late rally, scoring six points, including a four-point-play, and grabbing five boards, four on the offensive end, in the final six minutes.
- Justin Taylor snapped a three-game scoreless streak with five first half points, but now has logged four straight games without a rebound.
- And just like that, John Bol Ajak is gone from the rotation.
» Related: Syracuse rallies past Cornell to extend winning streak
NEXT UP
SU will put a bow on the 2022 calendar when they welcome Boston College to the JMA Wireless Dome on New Year’s Eve. The Eagles (6-6, 0-1), who recently snapped a four-game slide, host
#21 Virginia Tech on Wednesday before embarking on their holiday break.
BC has proven to be an offensively limited team thus far this season, averaging under 64 points per game while shooting 41.4 percent from the field and just 27.6 percent from three-point range. Jaeden Zackery paces the Eagles at 11.3 points per game while Makai Ashton-Langford and C.J. Penha Jr. average just over ten markers a game. Penha is Boston College’s top perimeter shooter, knocking down 36.8 percent of his triple tries.
The Orange and Eagles will tip off at 2:00pm Eastern on Saturday, December 31 and the ACC Network will televise the contest.
POSTGAME
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