Fields, Pitt shoot down Syracuse

It was a tale of two halves for the Panthers last night in Syracuse, NY. Following a first… It was a tale of two halves for the Panthers last night in Syracuse, NY. Following a first half in which Pitt played sloppily on offense and never led the Orange, the Panthers connected on more than 50 percent of their second-half field goals to defeat Syracuse, 74-66, in their first Big East matchup of the season.

Sophomore point guard Levance Fields led the charge with a career-high 24 points on 9-13 shooting – something he’s noticed will be important for the Panthers down the stretch.

“I have to shoot it the way I’ve been shooting recently and it’s been falling,” Fields said after the game. “I didn’t know [about scoring a career-high]. I knew I was playing well, but to get the win at the Carrier Dome on the road is big. We know we’re going to do well in the [Petersen Events Center], we always do, but to get this win is huge.”

As well as Fields was shooting, the Orange seemingly did just as well throughout the first half. Fitting the mold of the half, Orange forward Demetrius Nichols opened the scoring by sinking two free throws following a foul on Pitt’s Antonio Graves.

Levon Kendall answered for the Panthers with a jumper to knot the game at two.

After a 3-pointer from Syracuse’s Andy Rautins, Pitt responded again, this time with a three by Graves.

The teams continued to trade baskets throughout most of the duration of the half.

The Panthers came within one and looked poised to finally take the lead after a jumper by reserve forward Tyrell Biggs made the score 16-15 midway through the half.

But Syracuse’s Terrence Roberts emphatically slammed home an offensive rebound on the other end, however, to increase the Orange lead to 18-15.

Following a Mike Cook jumper that once again cut the Orange lead to one point, Roberts answered with another basket of his own to put the Orange back up by three.

In the closing seconds of the period, it looked as if the Orange would head into the locker room with a 34-31 lead. Pitt guard Levance Fields managed to strip the ball from Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf, however, and tossed it ahead to a streaking Cook for a layup at the buzzer, closing the gap to 34-33.

The momentum Pitt gained from the buzzer-beating score propelled Pitt into taking the lead in the second half, as the Panthers came out firing in the opening minutes.

Center Aaron Gray hit a turn around hook shot on the Panthers’ first possession to give Pitt its first lead of the game – one it would not relinquish.

Following a Syracuse miss, Graves knocked down a wide-open 3-pointer to push the Pitt lead to 38-34. Graves finished with nine points on the night, converting 3-6 from behind the arc.

On the next Orange possession, Fields stepped in front of an Eric Devendorf pass and raced back for a layup to further increase the Panthers’ lead to 40-34, forcing Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim to call a timeout.

Syracuse regrouped during the break and responded by tying the game up at 40 with several quick baskets. The momentum seemed to be shifting back to the Orange before Fields knocked down a 3-pointer to put Pitt back on top 43-40.

Pitt continued to build its lead. Fields hit a 3-pointer, and on the next Syracuse possession, once again stole a pass and made a spectacular layup at the other end to put Pitt up 51-42. The point guard’s second-half heroics may have some thinking Pitt has a new clutch player, aside from Gray.

“I think I’m trying to be more of a go-to guy down the stretch, but I still think [Gray] is still the go-to guy,” Fields said

Syracuse’s clutch player, Eric Devendorf, did his best to keep his team in the game. Syracuse began to inch its way back into the game late in the second half. Devendorf stole an errant pass and ran the court for an easy layup to pull the Orange within three, 65-62. Devendorf led Syracuse with 17 points. The Panthers held Nichols, who had scored 20 or more points in six straight contests, to just 11 points.

Pitt answered Devendorf immediately, however, with a Ronald Ramon 3-pointer to increase the lead to 68-62. Although Fields had the career-high in points, he was quick to acknowledge the efforts of Ramon and Graves – especially in front of a rowdy crowd of 21,045 in the infamous Carrier Dome.

“It gets loud, but it doesn’t bother us,” Fields said. I think we did a great job tonight. I may have had the career-high, but Antonio and Ronald did a great job tonight too.”

The Panthers shot 48.3 percent from the field and 9-22 from three. Fields knows the Panthers have to keep it up in order to live up to the squad’s preseason expectations.

“When we get open shots we know we have to hit them,” Fields said. “Tonight we hit them.”

The Orange never really made the game close down the stretch as some clutch free-throw shooting from Ramon and Fields iced the game for the Panthers. Gray finished with nine points and 10 rebounds for Pitt. Ramon also contributed 12 points to the victory.

With the win, Pitt earned a bit of revenge for its Big East Championship game loss suffered at the hands of the Orange last season. The Panthers have now won nine out of the last 12 meetings between the two squads.

Pitt returns to Big East action this weekend with a Sunday afternoon game at home against South Florida – one of the two Big East opponents it did not play last season.