Panthers get back on track

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — With the way Pitt worked in the paint against Syracuse, the bottom of the… SYRACUSE, N.Y. — With the way Pitt worked in the paint against Syracuse, the bottom of the Panthers’ shoes should have been blue when they left the court after their 66-45 win over the Orangemen on Saturday night.

Pitt (19-1 overall, 5-1 Big East) outscored Syracuse (13-3, 3-2) 40-18 in the paint and the Panthers’ front court led the way, scoring 44 of Pitt’s 66 points. Forward Chevon Troutman recorded a double double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Troutman said the reasons the Panthers’ front court was so dominant was because of the way Syracuse plays its top two guards in its 2-3 zone defense. The scheme made it difficult for the Panthers to get open looks, so they instead worked the paint.

Another reason the Panthers scored so many points down low was because of how well Pitt played along the boards. Pitt pulled down 20 offensive rebounds and scored 16 second-chance points.

Freshman forward Chris Taft was also in the double-digits in scoring with 15 points, while pulling down eight rebounds.

Forward Mark McCarroll came off the Panthers’ bench and scored 15 points, including two clutch three-pointers in the second half when Pitt was running down the game clock.

“I don’t see why they left [McCarroll] so open,” Taft said.

The three-pointers shocked many in the arena, but teammates of McCarroll weren’t as impressed.

“It’s nothing new. He shoots them on me all the time [in practice],” Troutman said, smiling.

Pitt took an early 14-7 lead after hitting three straight three-pointers — two from guard Julius Page and one from guard Carl Krauser.

Syracuse battled back and culminated its comeback with a three-pointer from guard Gerry McNamara, who was a game-time decision due to a groin injury.

His three-pointer made the Carrier Dome rumble and it gave the Orangemen a 21-20 lead with 4:09 remaining in the first half. But that would be the loudest the crowd would get and the largest lead Syracuse would own.

The crowd noise that followed did not rattle the psyche of the Panthers, but rather, it awoke the Panthers’ offense from its momentary slumber.

With 3:42 left in the first half, Jaron Brown drove through the paint and laid the ball up for two points. The basket gave Pitt a 22-21 lead and it was the point in the game where the Panthers began to pull away from Syracuse.

Soon after that, Brown accepted a long outlet pass and was fouled as his layup went through for two points.

Following a layup by Krauser, Troutman pulled down a rebound and laid the ball in with eight seconds left in the first half. The bucket gave the Panthers a halftime lead of 29-23.

After hitting only 32.4 percent of their shots in the first half, the Panthers found themselves getting open looks, connecting on 59.3 percent of their attempts in the second half.

Right out of the locker room, Krauser drove down the court and dished the ball off to Taft, who hustled his way to the paint for the layup.

Taft, McCarroll and Troutman accounted for the first 12 points scored by Pitt in the second half that led to a 41-30 lead with 13:06 left in the game.

The Panthers then went on a 9-0 run, which was capped with a slam dunk by center Toree Morris. Morris worked the ball down low and elevated to slam the ball through with authority. While on his way down, he slammed his open hand against the glass backboard.

The Panthers’ next points would come on an alley-oop dunk by McCarroll and a crowd-silencing dunk by Taft, which put Pitt up 54-37.

McCarroll would rattle the rim once more with 2:15 remaining, when he drove through the paint and slammed the ball. His dunk was accompanied by a scream that resonated throughout the now-quiet arena.

Pitt held Syracuse to 45 points, which was the lowest offensive output by any Orangemen team in the Carrier Dome.

“[Pitt is] just too strong right now for us,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.

Krauser played a big part in the game, finishing with five points, eight assists and 10 rebounds.

Pitt comes home to entertain St. John’s at the Petersen Events Center Wednesday at 7 p.m.