Syracuse freshman point guard Tyler Ennis played a major role down the stretch the last time No. 1 Syracuse and No. 25 Pitt hooked up, but that was nothing compared to what Ennis had in store for the Panthers when the undefeated Orange visited the Petersen Events Center Wednesday night.
Ennis drained a walk-off three-point shot at the buzzer from just inside half court as Syracuse remained unbeaten with a dramatic 58-56 victory.
Talib Zanna, who led Pitt (20-5, 8-4 ACC) with 16 points and 14 rebounds, hit two free throws after being fouled on a layup attempt to give the Panthers a 56-55 lead before Ennis’ winner.
Pitt coach Jamie Dixon called a timeout after the free throws to set his defense, which also allowed Syracuse (24-0, 11-0) to draw up a play.
“We guarded it about as well as you could guard it,” Dixon said. “We made him catch it on the baseline with four seconds left. He made about a 40-footer. We did what we were supposed to do. We did the right things. They were going to get a shot off. He made it, and he made a tough one. We knew he’d have the ball and would be the guy. We had two guys on him. Our guys defended, and he hit a shot.”
The Panthers had a six-point lead with under two minutes left but C.J. Fair made a three-pointer with 1:40 to go. He then hit a jumper to make it 54-53 with 51 seconds left. After Pitt missed on the other end, Ennis made two free throws with 10 seconds left to give the Orange the lead.
“We have been in this situation six or seven times this year,” said Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. “We have guys that make plays. We may not have played our best basketball for 37 or 38 minutes but we made the plays when we had to. C.J. hadn’t hit a three all game. He hadn’t hit the rim, and he makes a three and then he hits a pretty tough pull-up to give us a chance. Those were big plays and you have to be a special player to make those plays.”
Early on it was the typical tight old fashioned Big East battle between the two schools.
The two teams exchanged punches throughout the first half that saw five ties and three lead changes.
The Panthers broke open a tie game at the 10 minute mark on a three-pointer from James Robinson and a runner in the lane from Michael Young to give them a 19-14 early edge. Pitt led by as many as seven in the first half when Lamar Patterson knocked down an NBA three to extend the Panthers lead to 27-20.
But that would be the last made field goal of the half for the Panthers as they went the final 4:29 without connecting from the floor while Syracuse tightened the game.
Eventually Pitt took a 27-24 lead into the locker room but left opportunities on the floor to be up by plenty more at the half.
The Panthers built their lead to nine in the early stages of the second half when Patterson made a three-pointer to make it 37-28 with 15 minutes remaining, but Syracuse came right back.
The Orange were able to keep the game within two possessions all night and ultimately took their first lead of the game with 10 seconds remaining, their first lead since leading 8-6 early on.
The Panthers had opportunities the final two minutes but elected to run clock on their final three possessions, having to settle for contested jumpers with the shot clock winding down. They also had a golden opportunity to put the game away with just seconds remaining but failed to convert back-to-back tip ins at the rim.
“We were being patient,” said Dixon. “We weren’t necessarily running clock but were attacking and looking for good shots. We had some looks but we didn’t finish around the rim. You don’t get many looks early in the clock when you have two good defensive teams.”
Pitt did everything right except close out the game. They dominated the glass, holding a 35-24 rebounding edge, made their free throws down the stretch and gave a very solid defensive effort.
At the end of the day though, the Panthers had plenty of chances to extend their lead and put the game out of reach but failed to do so and Ennis made them pay.
The freshman continues to make plays in the clutch for the Orange. Before his half-court game winner Ennis had only made one field goal in the second half and had only made two total field goals prior to that shot.
Fair led the Orange with 14 points while Ennis chipped in 13.
In addition to a big game from Zanna, Patterson added 14 points for the Panthers.
“We did everything we wanted to do,” said Patterson. “We lost on a lucky shot. I’m proud of the way the guys battled.”
Before the heroics from Ennis, Pitt had been 9-0 all-time against Top 5 ranked teams at the Petersen Events Center.
Pitt now must forget this loss, their second loss at the buzzer in less than two weeks, and move on as they have a trip to North Carolina awaiting them on Saturday.
“This game can’t stick with us,” said Dixon. “It hurts but we have to move on and get ready for Saturday. We had a tough loss against them last time and responded well. It can’t affect us going forward. It has to make us better.”
Photo Credit: Associated Press
