Pittsburgh, PA (My Sportsbook) - After suffering their first loss of the season, the Pittsburgh Panthers hope for a quick turnaround, as they welcome the Syracuse Orange to the Petersen Events Center for a key top-25 showdown in the Big East.
The Panthers were sitting atop the national polls, but Jaime Dixon's squad dropped its first game on Saturday with a 69-63 decision at Louisville. With the loss, Pittsburgh moved to 4-1 in Big East play, a full game behind in the league standings, and fell to fourth in the latest rankings.
The Orange have just two losses on the season and are 5-1 in conference action. Syracuse suffered its only league loss last week at Georgetown, but was able to get back in the win column with a big win over Notre Dame on Saturday, 93-74. The split kept the Orange eighth in the poll.
This game marks the 97th all-time meeting between these two teams. Although Syracuse holds a 61-35 advantage all-time, the Panthers have built some momentum of late, winning 10 of the last 13 meetings, including five of the last six at home.
The Orange are one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the Big East and proved that fact to the Fighting Irish over the weekend. Six players scored in double figures in the win, led by Arinze Onuaku's 19 points. Jonny Flynn tallied 17 points, followed by Eric Devendorf's 16. Paul Harris (15 pts, 10 rbs) and Rick Jackson (14 pts, 10 rbs) both recorded double-doubles, while Andy Rautins completed the offensive onslaught with 10 points. Flynn almost joined Harris and Jackson with a double-double of his own, doling out nine assists. The Orange shot a sterling 55.2 percent from the floor in the game and used a 51-point eruption in the second half to run away with the decision. The performance at the offensive end is nothing new for Syracuse, which is shooting .508 from the floor on the year, leading to a stout 81.5 ppg. The scoring balance is evident, with five players averaging double digits. Flynn leads the team in scoring (16.3 ppg) and assists (112). Devendorf is next, coming off the bench now with 14.4 ppg. Harris (13.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg) and Onuaku (12.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg) form quite the low post tandem. Rautins rounds things out with 10.5 ppg.
The Panthers held a 10-point lead with just under nine minutes left in the game, but a 19-3 run late, pushed the outcome in the Cardinals' favor and handed a stunned Pittsburgh squad its first loss of the season. Pittsburgh committed a season-high 20 turnovers in the game as well as 16 personal fouls and was unable to overcome those problems to remain undefeated. Jermaine Dixon did what he could, tallying a career-high 19 points, while Sam Young added 14. DeJuan Blair just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds, but the team shot a disappointing .349 from the field overall. It was a bit surprising considering Pittsburgh's numbers at both ends of the floor this year. The team still boasts of a +17.8 scoring margin, averaging 77.1 ppg, while limiting foes to just 59.4 ppg. Young has been the team's top scorer this year, averaging a healthy 18.4 ppg. Blair (14.3 ppg, 12.8 rpg) has been a beast in the low post, putting up double-doubles on a regular basis. Levance Fields is the court general for this team and is both a solid scorer (10.2 ppg) and deft distributor (120 assists and just 30 turnovers).
