Syracuse 83, Pittsburgh 72: Orange outlast Panthers on road

The Syracuse Orange basketball team was able to hang on for its second straight road win, weathering a Pittsburgh Panthers rally to win 83-72. Syracuse (11-5, 2-1) led by as many as 18, but Pittsburgh (7-9, 0-3) fought back to cut the lead to two possessions late in the second half. The Orange withstood the really to win by double-digits down the stretch.

Donnie Freeman and JJ Starling led the way for Syracuse while William Kyle stole the show with his dunks and displays of athleticism. Freeman finished with 22 points and 5 rebounds. Starling had 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists while Kyle had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals.

Adrian Autry went with his usual starting five of Naithan George, Starling, Nate Kingz, Freeman and Kyle.

Syracuse jumped on Pittsburgh defensively from the opening tip, forcing two early steals en route to an 8-2 lead by the first media timeout. Kyle had four points and two steals — including a poster dunk — but also two quick fouls and forced to sit in favor of Akir Souare. Kyle would sit the remainder of the half.

The Orange went on 19-2 run and would lead the rest of the way. With the tone set on defense, Freeman and Starling paced the Orange offense with a combined 13 early points. Kiyan Anthony, Sadiq White and Tyler Betsey checked in to round out the rotation. The Orange led 23-10 at the second media timeout.

After Pittsburgh intently attacked Anthony in man-to-man, Syracuse turned back the clock by going to a 2-3 zone against its former Big East counterpart. The zone had mixed results. Betsey knocked down a three, and the defense took a step back from level five.

Betsey knocked down his second and third threes as he and Pittsburgh’s Omari Witherspoon traded a pair of deep balls. Syracuse led 34-22 with three starters set to check back in at the 6:35 mark (White and Betsey remained).

Starling and Freeman continued the strong play on offense during the final stretch of the first half while Brandin Cummings paced Pittsburgh. His three point play and dunk by Barry Dunning Jr. just before the half narrowed the margin to 11.

Syracuse led 48-37 at the break behind 8-15 three point shooting. Starling had a dozen points while Freeman had 11. Cummings led the way for the Panthers with 16 points on 5-5 shooting. Syracuse held a 10-2 points off turnovers edge.

In the second half, Syracuse came out in 2-3 zone and forced a turnover on the first possession. It didn’t take long for Kyle to reassert his dominance after sitting for most of the first half. Kyle had a raucous put-back dunk that took the air out of the Petersen Events Center.

Nate Kingz, who wisely missed the three to get Kyle the put-back dunk, picked up his third foul and was sent to the bench in favor of Betsey. Autry mixed in man-to-man and the 2-3 zone in the second half. Starling knocked down his third triple of the day to lift Syracuse to a 59-42 lead at the first media timeout of the second half.

Kyle would finish off a three points play and another Starling layup gave Syracuse a 64-46 lead. White came in for Betsey. Thereafter, Kingz came back into the game along with Anthony. For better or worse, Autry stayed with the zone (whether to protect Kyle’s fouls or Anthony’s struggles with man defense, you can be the judge). The Orange struggled to rebound out of the zone as second chance points began to pile up. Roman Siulepa had back-to-back offense rebounds and putbacks, he was fouled for an and-one on the second trimming Syracuse’s lead to 11 at the second media timeout.

With Pittsburgh climbing back and the Orange clinging to a double-digit lead, Autry went with his veterans with 9:23 remaining and went back to man-to-man defense. Pitt cut it to single-digits on a Cummings jumpshot, while Freeman nailed a long two to momentarily silence the Pittsburgh crowd. Dunning answered and whittled the lead back to nine and another Cummings three cut the lead it to six with 6:30 to play. Freeman, intent to take matters into his own hands, answered once again with a three as Syracuse led 75-66 with six minutes left. A Cam Corhen dunk got it back to seven as Autry called timeout.

Out of the timeout, Kingz was fouled on a three for Syracuse and made two of three. Cummings cut it back the margin back to seven with a long two. Down the stretch it was Freeman who had the bucket to put the game out of reach (for the second game in a row). A Freeman elbow jumper seemingly found all of the rim before bouncing in. The shooter’s touch by Freeman lifted Syracuse’s lead to nine. A Kingz layup all but sealed it as the Orange went back up double-figures. George had two free throw s to put the 83-70 with 40 seconds left. Pittsburgh had a late layup as the Orange held on for a quadrant two win.

Next up

Syracuse returns home to take on Florida State this Tuesday. That game tips at 9 p.m. EST from the JMA Wireless Dome and airs on ACC Network.