Pitt's losing streak reaches five in 65-56 loss to Syracuse

When two teams get together and one has trouble shedding the other and building a comfortable advantage, the outcome is often decided by moments. Plays that last mere seconds, but ultimately determine a winner and loser.

Pitt’s 65-56 loss to Syracuse on Saturday at Petersen Events Center had three of those, and each one went against the Panthers and led to their fifth consecutive defeat.

Syracuse (16-6, 7-2) has better shooters and more length on defense than Pitt (12-10, 2-7), but the Orange were in trouble in the second half when the Panthers — down 35-22 at halftime — ratcheted up their defensive intensity.

“In the second half, we defended our butts off,” coach Jeff Capel said. “In the first half, we didn’t.”

The first moment occurred after Pitt trimmed Syracuse’s lead to 39-36 with 12 minutes, 42 seconds to play and Xavier Johnson went to the free-throw line for two shots. He missed both. For the rest of the game, he hit nine of 10.

Still, Pitt hung around the necks of their opponents, forcing turnovers and missed shots.

With 10:29 left, Syracuse only led, 43-38. Up stepped senior Frank Howard to hit two 3-pointers in a 37-second span. Even with Jared Wilson-Frame’s 3-pointer in the middle, Syracuse was ahead, 49-41.

“That was the game, I thought,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.

In truth, Pitt put up little resistance after that, but a call that went against the Panthers had Capel puzzled.

The lead was 53-41 with 8:16 left, and Pitt had only one hope of a comeback: a string of 3-pointers.

Trey McGowens appeared to hit one, but officials waved it off, calling the freshman guard for an offensive foul for sticking out his leg and contacting a defender while shooting.

Capel said he didn’t not get an explanation from the officiating crew of Roger Ayers, A.J. Desal and Tim Clougherty.

“Don’t understand it. Didn’t understand it. Still don’t. Not sure I’ve seen that called in college, ever,” he said.

McGowens appeared to make the same movement earlier in the second half, but the foul went against Syracuse’s Oshae Brissett. McGowens made all three free throws to trigger a 14-4 Pitt run that made the game interesting for the sellout crowd of 12,508 at the Pete.

This time, the call went against Pitt.

“Same thing I saw before,” Boeheim said. “He kicked out with his leg. You can’t do that.”

Asked if he had theory about that play, Capel said, “I’m not allowed to speak publicly about a theory, so I’m not going to.”

Capel did speak about how his players, specifically Johnson and McGowens, are no longer getting sent to the free-throw line as frequently as they were earlier in the season. He had the stats in his head.

“Our first four games in conference, Johnson had 33 free throws, Trey 49. In four games (prior to Saturday), Johnson had 14, Trey four.

“We’re still driving, still attacking the basket.”

He said those four opponents — Syracuse on the road, Duke, Louisville and Clemson — played good defense.

“But, man, I don’t think they mastered defense or mastered verticality,” Capel said. “So, that’s just an interesting thing to me that’s been a big part of our offense.”

Pitt did get to shoot 22 free throws, but McGowens only made those three at the outset of the second half. He was otherwise scoreless.

Terrell Brown, with seven dunks, led Pitt with 16 points, and Johnson had 14 points and Jared Wilson-Frame 12.

Capel isn’t blaming his team’s five-game losing streak on the lack of foul shots. He knows his team must improve to survive in the ACC.

“I don’t think that’s the reason we’re losing,” he said. “It’s a lot of factors with us. We have to play better for 40 minutes. It can’t be 20.”

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.