Against Syracuse, a sign that you are attacking them well is indicated by the speed in which they leave the 2-3 zone to go man-to-man. Pitt has been one of the most successful teams in the Big East against Syracuse’s 2-3 in the last 4-5 years. When Pitt got off to the quick 7-0 run, and Watkins fouled Gray as he was scoring off a sweet inside pass from Krauser, Coach Boeheim was forced to call a quick timeout. Pitt had Syracuse going man at at the 18:26 mark. Less than 2 minutes into the game and the ‘Cuse needed something else.

Pitt played a smart balanced game. Pitt was energized to be home, clearly, but they were just fresher looking than Syracuse despite the similarly draining schedule both were completing.

The Orange still tried to push itself, even switching to a press
early in the second half. But the story was told more by Pitt’s dominance on the
boards – it grabbed 45 rebounds to Syracuse’s 38 – or the SU players’ slow,
measured gaits back to the court or bench after timeouts. Even energetic
freshman Eric Devendorf, who scored 18 points, wore a pained grin while driving
to the basket as time wound down in the second half.

“We look like a team that’s been out playing a lot,” Boeheim said. “We’re
tired. … We need a few days off. It’s sad you have to play such great teams
back-to-back and then have six, seven days off.”

Still, Pittsburgh (16-1, 5-1 Big East) faced a similar travel schedule as
the Orange. The Panthers played five games in the past 11 days, two of which
were against teams in the Top 25. Last night’s game was their first home game
since Jan. 12. Pitt, like most of the Orange, refused to say exhaustion had any
effect on its play.

While the Panthers seemed to be telling the truth somewhat, SU looked tired
in the locker room after the game.
…
Syracuse often exhibited that tiredness by committing fouls. Center
Darryl Watkins fouled out with 13 minutes remaining, Roberts did so with 3:10 to
go after being called for a technical foul and Louie McCroskey fouled out with
1:19 left.

Pitt’s deep rotation served them extremely well.

The game was tight early, but Pitt opened up a big lead late in the first half when Gray was out of the game with two fouls. Tyrell Biggs came into the game and scored five points. Later, starting 6-foot-9 forward Levon Kendall switched to center, and Sam Young played power forward. Young had seven first-half points, all in the final five minutes of the half, including a three-point play and a spectacular one-handed dunk.

“Tyrell was big,” Dixon said. “Our depth was a big factor again. That really carried us on our way.”

Unlike Syracuse who has 3 players averaging over 32 minutes and a rotation that rarely goes deeper than 7, Pitt going 10 deep made for a team that could handle the compressed portion of the schedule. To Syracuse, it probably seemed like fresh legs off Pitt’s bench were coming at them in waves.

The free throw attempts disparity was incredible but warranted. Pitt attempted 35, while Syracuse had only 5.

The number of foul shots attempted in the game reflected Syracuse’s
over-aggressiveness. Pitt shot 35 free throws compared to only five for
Syracuse.

“It wasn’t the officiating,” McNamara said. “Maybe if it was 35-28, but
when it’s 35-5 you can’t say anything about the officials. We’re just not
getting in the lane and creating contact – they were, and it’s a different game
if they don’t shoot 35 free throws.”

Pitt’s inside guys did a very good job of not giving up their position inside on defense. While it created some pretty impressive acrobatic attempts from Devendorf or McNamara who found themselves pulling up more when they penetrated, it prevented “and 1” chances. Especially important with Pitt playing with a lead, and not giving them chances to draw even closer from the line.

Kendall was doing it very well, at first to my annoyance, because Devendorf or McNamara would hit those wild floaters without punishment. But what it did was force them further to the perimeter and a lot of off-balance shots, and they got no real easy ones coming inside. At the same time McNamara and Devendorf couldn’t draw the defenders to the dumb foul for free throws or to free the guys inside. It was smart play. It’s why he saw a bulk of minutes.

An interesting contrast in big men in the game. Neither team exactly looked good offensively with the front court. Syracuse ended up blocking a lot of shots because of Pitt’s aggressiveness going to the basket. If Pitt got in to their inside guys, the ‘Cuse interior was able to block and hold their position better. Syracuse was much better about going straight up and down to contest those kind of inside shots. Penetration and drives, however, was a different story. They couldn’t hold their ground, or flinched at the contact.

Pitt’s inside guys held their ground. In a game where the guards for both teams were creating it made a huge difference, and was the reason for the foul shooting disparity. As is the standard for any team taking on Syracuse this year, the first rule is to not allow McNamara to have open looks. Make him work and expend a lot of energy just to get a shot.

Dixon was pleased with his team’s ability to control Syracuse’s top player and one of the top guards in the Big East, McNamara, who shot only 8 for 24 overall and 2 for 12 from 3-point range.

McNamara, a senior, was coming off a season-low four points in an 80-65 loss at No. 6 Villanova on Saturday.

“It was a big key to make him take tough shots,” Dixon said. “He’s going to make shots, but you’ve got to make him take tough shots and limit his trips to the foul line. He’s a great free-throw shooter (92.5 percent).”

Pitt’s guards not only wanted to go to the basket — so did the Orange — they wanted to take it right to the defenders who tried to come out to them. Syracuse’s guards continually stopped short of the basket when they realized Pitt’s defenders were staying where they were.

The story of the game, of course was Carl Krauser.

No Krauser shot was bigger than his pull-up 3-pointer with 12 minutes, 10
seconds left in the game.

Syracuse had pressed its way back from a 15-point deficit to within 53-46. The Orange had the momentum with a 12-2 run and had the sold-out Petersen Events Center worried and quiet.

But the calm and collected Krauser slowed the game down, dribbled the ball at the top of the key and stared at Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense. When neither McNamara nor Devendorf stepped up to contest him, he nailed a 21-footer.

SU would fight its way back to four-point and five-point deficits later in the game, but that one shot deflated the Orange.

“He hit a wide-open 3,” said McNamara, who finished with 18 points on 8-for-24 shooting. “We go back to the two (zone defense) and he hits a wide-open. We let him shoot it wide-open. I’ve played against Carl a bunch of times and I know he likes that shot. I like that shot, too. We just made a mistake and he made us pay for it.”
…
He was superb again on Monday. He controlled the ball, largely against Devendorf in Syracuse’s desperation man-to-man defense. He pushed the ball when he was supposed to and he was patient against the halfcourt defense.

Yet, after the final buzzer, he had no idea he’d had a career night. Instead, he celebrated the big win by jumping on courtside seats and leading the Pittsburgh student section in a “Let’s-Go-Pitt” chant.

When he stopped the cheerleading long enough to be interviewed by ESPN, he realized how big his game truly was.

“Having a career game is just another game for me,” he said, his words feigning nonchalance but his smile indicating the real story. “I don’t try to feed into it too much. I just try to do what I can to help my teammates. I just really want to go out there and compete. But it does feel good to go out there and have 32 points in the Big East Conference and a collegiate basketball game.”

It’s seeing Krauser figuratively embrace the Oakland Zoo after games that is so great. It briefly warms a cynic’s heart to see the players give the love back to the students and not act like it is a pro game.

Krauser’s 32 points came not just because the team was sharing the ball the way they have, but because the other guards were making and getting shots. It meant that the defense couldn’t collapse on Krauser without someone making them pay. Ramon found his touch early in the game dropping some pretty 3s (3-4 on 3s, 4-6 overall) and scoring 11. That extended the defense, creating the space for Krauser and for more penetration from the perimeter.

That was where Benjamin played another impressive game at the 3-guard/forward spot. Taking the ball inside, but with control and purpose. His shot selection and scoring percentage reflected that — 5-7 and 11 points. Not the reckless, selfish way that had been dropping his minutes earlier in the season. He drove, and showed some great elevation. He played on both ends, crashing the boards for 6 rebounds.