PITT 80, SYRACUSE 75
SYRACUSE Min FG FT Reb A PF PTS
Lydon 40 3-7 1-2 3-6 3 4 8
Thompson 16 2-2 0-2 1-2 0 3 4
Battle 16 1-5 1-2 0-2 0 2 3
Gillon 39 7-15 5-5 0-4 4 3 20
White 40 7-16 3-3 1-4 2 2 20
Howard 25 3-9 5-5 1-1 2 3 12
Roberson 24 3-6 2-2 2-5 0 2 8
Totals 200 26-60 17-21 8-24 11 19 75
Percentages: FG .433, FT .810.
3-Point Goals: 6-20, .300 (White 3-8, Lydon 1-2, Howard 1-3, Gillon 1-6, Battle 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 1. Team Turnovers: 10 (19 PTS).
Blocked Shots: 2 (Thompson, White).
Turnovers: 10 (Gillon 3, Lydon 3, Battle, Roberson, Thompson, White).
Steals: 7 (Gillon 3, White 2, Battle, Howard).
Technical Fouls: None.
PITT Min FG FT Reb A PF PTS
Jeter 37 6-11 2-3 5-11 3 4 14
Young 39 7-13 7-9 3-9 6 1 21
Artis 37 5-10 5-6 1-3 10 1 16
Johnson 35 6-9 4-4 0-5 1 4 22
Jones 34 2-8 2-2 1-3 3 2 7
Kithcart 13 0-2 0-0 1-2 2 3 0
Nix 5 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 3 0
Totals 200 26-54 20-24 13-35 25 18 80
Percentages: FG .481, FT .833.
3-Point Goals: 8-18, .444 (Johnson 6-8, Jones 1-2, Artis 1-5, Young 0-1, Kithcart 0-2).
Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 16 (10 PTS).
Blocked Shots: 5 (Artis 2, Jeter, Jones, Nix).
Turnovers: 16 (Jeter 4, Artis 3, Young 3, Johnson 2, Jones 2, Kithcart, Nix).
Steals: 5 (Jeter 2, Johnson 2, Jones).
Technical Fouls: None.
Syracuse 28 47 — 75
Pittsburgh 35 45 — 80
A—10,216 (12,508).
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Updated 25 minutes ago
Pitt forward Michael Young stands 6-foot-9 on 235 pounds, with muscular shoulders, thick calves and feet quick enough to baffle anyone trying to guard him alone.
“When he has one guy guarding him, he's usually good enough to beat one guy,” coach Kevin Stallings said.
But that's not Syracuse's game. The Orange's 2-3 zone swarms over most opponents, with long arms blocking a shooters' eyesight and swatting passes off their normal flight path. Yet, Pitt, Young and sophomore Cam Johnson found a way — several ways, actually — in an 80-75 victory at Petersen Events Center on Saturday.
With the victory, Pitt (14-11, 3-9 ACC) has won two in a row after an eight-game losing streak.
Johnson led Pitt with 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting beyond the 3-point arc and 4 of 4 foul shots. Two of his biggest shots hit the mark from the foul line with 29 seconds left after Syracuse (16-10, 8-5) had cut the lead to 74-70.
“I got extra shots (Friday) night and (Saturday) morning,” Johnson said. “I wanted to make sure I got into a good rhythm going into the game and it worked out.”
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim was disappointed his team, which had won five in a row, couldn't find Johnson.
“The one guy we worried about was Johnson,” he said. “We wanted to get up on him, and we lost him. That was the biggest problem for us in the game.”
Then, there was Young, fresh off a serious discussion with Stallings on Friday. He contributed even when he wasn't hitting 7 of 13 attempts, scoring 21 points, but adding nine rebounds and six assists.
“He just doesn't like (zone defenses),” Stallings said. “Or, he didn't; 21 and 9 and 6 ought to make him feel better.”
Stallings estimated he has 89 plays he can run for Young when he only has to beat one defender. The player-coach talk Friday re-emphasized for Young that there's more to basketball than one-on-one confrontations and the game is as much mental as it is physical — at least for the better teams.
“In a zone, you have to figure it out,” Stallings said. “You have to find your spots. You have to create your openings.
“My big thing in practice (Friday) was find pleasure in finding openings in the zone. Make that fun, not just for (Young), but for everybody.”
In previous seasons, Pitt had found success against Syracuse. Former coach Jamie Dixon was 14-6 against Boeheim, whose teams have lost nine of their past 11 at the Pete. The formula didn't carry over to this season under Stallings, so he adjusted after a 77-66 loss at Carrier Dome last month.
“We determined we didn't have the same personnel,” Stallings said. “We modified what we would call our default offense. Pretty simple, pretty basic, but it kept everybody moving. It kept the eyes of the zone shifting, so they couldn't just lock in.”
Young had three dunks — monstrous efforts you might expect of a senior trying to salvage his final season — but when he got the ball in the teeth of the zone it opened shooting lanes for Johnson.
Young said the goal was to work as close to the basket as the zone would allow. There, he could either roll to the hoop or pass to an open man.
“I do draw a lot of attention,” he said. “It's easier when I draw attention on the post to kick out versus on the perimeter.”
The victory, however, can be traced to more than breaking the zone. Pitt outrebounded Syracuse, 41-25, and its defense held the Orange to one basket in a 9 minute, 27-second span of the first half.
“The last 12 minutes of the first half was as good a defense as we've played against a really talented offensive team,” Stallings said.
And there was one more factor that might have contributed to the victory. Young shed the mask he had been wearing for six games to protect a broken orbital bone.
“Surprisingly, it felt pretty weird not having it on,” he said. “At the beginning, I wanted to have it on. But after a few dunks and a couple shots went in, I was all right.”
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
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