Pitt rallies to defeat Syracuse in road ACC showdown

A week ago, Pitt coach Jeff Capel had more players coughing, sniffling and sneezing at practice than he had healthy bodies.

When he finally got most of the group together Saturday, Pitt was forced to practice in three groups. Social distancing might work at the grocery store, but try it while preparing to play college basketball.

Yet, Pitt found a way to pull off an improbable upset Wednesday at the Carrier Dome, rallying from 18 down in the first half, 14 at halftime and 12 with seven minutes left to defeat Syracuse, 63-60.

The 32-18 halftime deficit was the largest overcome by a Pitt team playing on the road. The 53-41 disadvantage was the biggest that turned into a victory in the final seven minutes in school history — home or away.

Don’t forget the most significant storyline: Capel had only nine scholarship players available, with John Hugley, Nike Sibande and Noah Collier home under covid-19 restrictions and Justin Champagnie, the team’s best player and the ACC’s leading rebounder, out with a knee injury.

“We showed a lot of fight. We showed a lot of grit. We showed a lot of toughness, and we were resilient,” Capel said.

The victory raised Pitt’s record to 6-2 (2-1 in the ACC), and it was the Panthers’ third without a loss on the road. Syracuse scored the game’s first 11 points but only seven in the final seven minutes. Pitt’s defense, a strength through the season’s first eight games, held the ACC’s No. 1 scoring team to 23 points under its 83.7 average.

“They slipped up. They stopped playing for a second,” Pitt junior Xavier Johnson said. “They turned it off and on in the second half.”

Pitt also dominated the boards 49-33, including 20 offensive rebounds. That’s another aspect of the game Capel continually preaches, and players finally are heeding.

It also plays into a third Capel demand. He wants his players to fight under all circumstances.

“We tried to establish in our program that we’re going to fight,” he said. “When I thought of Pittsburgh basketball before I came here, when they were really good, it was the toughness. It was the fight.”

Junior Au’Diese Toney, whose tip-in with 8 seconds left gave Pitt its first lead, understands what Capel means.

“We’re trying to get this program back to how it was in the Big East days,” said Toney, who was 11 years old when Pitt won its last Big East championship.

The victory was similar to the Northwestern game last month. Pitt never led until the end of both games and came out of the locker room to score 49 and 45 points in the second halves of both.

With four minutes left and Pitt down five, Capel gathered his team around him and asked, “What does this remind you of? This is Northwestern all over again, and we’re going to win because we’ve been in that situation before and (the Orange) haven’t.

“You could feel the momentum changing.”

With a depleted bench, Pitt got contributions from several players. Ithiel Horton was the scoring leader with 14 points on four 3-pointers. Johnson, who surpassed 1,000 career points (1,010), and Toney added 12 each. Johnson added seven assists and three steals.

Freshman Femi Odukale scored 10 and senior Terrell Brown eight, including a dunk with 2 minutes, 33 seconds left that cut Syracuse’s lead to 57-54.

Johnson took it from there.

He struggled with foul trouble, a season-long battle, and missed 11 of his first 13 shots. But when he had the ball outside the 3-point arc with 1:52 left, he quickly arched a shot over the Syracuse defense and through the cords to tie the score.

“All I was thinking about was winning,” he said. “The next shot was going in.”

After Toney’s tip, Pitt again turned up the defensive intensity. Syracuse couldn’t find an open man, and Johnson gobbled up the errant pass, was fouled and hit two to set the final margin.

The Panthers were forced to battle the covid pandemic, plus a tough opponent that had won six of its first seven games and looked to be on its way to a seventh — all while trying to change the culture of the Pitt program.

“You have to get off the mat, man,” Capel said. “That’s life.”

Said Toney: “Like coach is preaching, it’s time to grow up.”

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