After going into double overtime with then-No. 23 Florida State in its last matchup, Syracuse (13-6, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) struggled to get much going early against Pittsburgh (8-11, 0-6). The teams combined to shoot just 38 percent in the first half as the Orange went into the break with a five-point advantage. Syracuse eventually managed to pull away late for a 59-45 win to snap its four-game losing streak.  

Here are three reactions from the game.

Feel it still

Tyus Battle played a season-high 50 minutes in the Orange’s loss to the Seminoles. The game actually pushed his minutes per game average in ACC play to 41.2 — more than the standard 40-minute game.

TV broadcasts claimed that Battle was under the weather heading into the game. Either way, Battle was noticeably a bit weaker to start Tuesday‘s game.

On one play he made a move to drive baseline, but his floater weakly fell off the side of the backboard, not even reaching the rim. Later, he had a wide-open look from deep. His 3-point attempt was on line but not strong enough, barely grazing the front of the rim and falling straight down. He missed his first six shots of the game and entered the break with just four points.

Halftime seemed to get Battle a little bit back on track. He was five-of-eight from the field and scored seven points in the frame. His 3-pointer out of the under-eight media timeout seemed to inject life in the Orange, which went on to open up a 10-point edge.

How long

Freshman Panthers guard Parker Stewart came into the game averaging just 7.4 points per game, the fifth-highest mark on the team. He’d hit 30 3-pointers in 18 games, shooting at a 36 percent clip.

Stewart hit two 3-pointers within the first five minutes of the game. By the end of the night, Stewart accounted for more than half of Pitt’s offense by himself, as he knocked down seven 3-pointers and had 23 points, both career highs.

Although Syracuse has been solid on defense for most of the season, this was the third time that one player has made at seven 3-pointers in a game against the Orange.

New rules

Through the first four games of ACC play, freshman point guard Howard Washington was averaging two minutes per game. It seemed like his only way on the floor was to provide a very quick breather to Howard or Battle, or if either one was in foul trouble.

But against FSU he played a career-high 24 minutes and Syracuse deployed its three-guard lineup for a good chunk of the first half.

On Tuesday, Washington again checked into the game early in the first half, replacing Tyus Battle who sat for a few minutes. When Battle came back, Washington stayed on, with SU again giving its three-guard lineup a look.

The Orange scored five quick points when Washington was in, and the Buffalo native added two steals. But the offense stalled with the three-guard lineup in, scoring no points. On one play, it appeared that both Howard and SU head coach Jim Boeheim were frustrated with Oshae Brissett not getting into the high post properly.

Washington was subbed out with 7:22 left in the first half and didn’t play the rest of the game.

Published on January 16, 2018 at 11:09 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer