CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For the past two seasons, the Syracuse Orange comforted themselves by knowing what they’d get from one player in particular. Guard Tyus Battle, now a junior in his second year as a full-time starter, would more often than not score his 15-to-20 points. No player on Syracuse matches his ability to score. And the 2018-19 Orange have looked to him to push the team forward.

On Wednesday, Syracuse needed some sort of push, a jolt to help them out of a stalemate. It couldn’t be Battle, who missed his first game ever for the Orange with a lower-back injury he sustained Saturday in a loss at Clemson. He sat next to assistant coach Allen Griffin in a blue jumpsuit, and head coach Jim Boeheim expects him to be back in two or three days. Without him, the Orange came out as they have many times before this season: they backed themselves into a corner, then muscled their way out.

No. 6 seed Syracuse (20-12, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) erased a six-point halftime deficit to beat No. 14 seed Pittsburgh (14-19, 3-15) for the third time this season, 73-59. The Orange’s two wins over the Panthers came by a combined 20 points. In the teams’ third meeting, freshman guard Buddy Boeheim — making his third career start in Battle’s place — led SU with 20 points, and junior forward Elijah Hughes had 18 to engage the pro-Syracuse Spectrum Center crowd at the second round of the ACC tournament. Senior point guard Frank Howard, who’d struggled in recent weeks, chipped in 18 points as well.

“When you lose your best player, somebody has to step up,” Boeheim said. “We started the game and let (Jared Wilson)-Frame shoot. But this was a really good win. I thought everybody had a part in it.”

Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

The Orange square off against No. 3 seed Duke for the third time this season. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m., with the winner guaranteed a spot in the tournament’s semifinal game Friday against either North Carolina or Louisville.

While Syracuse had already appeared to be headed to its third NCAA Tournament over the past four years, the Pitt game didn’t come without NCAA Tournament implications. Two weeks ago, expert bracketologist Patrick Stevens Stevens told The Daily Orange he thought the Orange were well on pace to make the Big Dance. This week, he reiterated his case, saying a win over Pittsburgh would eliminate the possibility of SU not making the Tournament, despite the fact that Syracuse lost four of its last five regular-season games. Even though they were sliding, they’d done enough — three Top 25 wins, few bad losses — to play next week. The win Wednesday likely stamped their ticket in earnest.

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More coverage:

• Tyus Battle ‘realistically 2 or 3 days away’ from return
• Career night for Buddy Boeheim, more takeaways from Syracuse’s ACC tournament win over Pittsburgh
• Buddy Boeheim shines with career-night in ACC tournament win over Pittsburgh
• Syracuse’s next opponent: What to know about Duke
• Jalen Carey reflects on diminished playing time after expanded role in SU’s ACC Tournament win

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To get there, Syracuse broke from the norm. Boeheim rarely deviates from his starting lineup. Usually, he only does so when he has to. Wednesday, Battle’s absence and senior center Paschal Chukwu’s early foul trouble put the Orange in new lineups, including one with Howard, freshman guard Jalen Carey, and three forwards: Hughes, Oshae Brissett and Marek Dolezaj.

“The zone stunned us a little bit,” said Carey, who scored two points in seven minutes. “With Tyus being out, we had to do extra. We needed better ball movement, better penetration.”

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The lineup with Buddy at the second guard spot, not Carey, became the jolt SU needed. The Orange worked the basketball with more speed and direction as the game wore on and they gained more practice against the defense they deploy themselves. The result was a second-half surge that set them on track for a double-digit victory. Production came from several places, including Chukwu, who had seven points, six blocks and nine rebounds.

“Paschal was a key for us,” Boeheim said, “no question.”

Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

In the first half Wednesday, Pittsburgh threatened. Wilson-Frame shot 6-of-9 from deep, scoring half of his team’s 36 points. The Panthers, who’d lost 13 of their previous 15 games, once maintained a 10-point advantage. They led 36-30 at the break. They attacked the zone with vigor, unafraid to squeeze through the top two guards or drive toward the foul-line area and kick to the wings.

Playing in a 2-3 zone defense themselves, the Panthers found success limiting the Orange — until SU developed a rhythm, feeding Hughes and Buddy for shots. Soon, they started to knock them down. Hughes kicked off the second half with a jumper and a 3-pointer in front of SU’s bench, which beamed with elation. Later, a Buddy 3-pointer gave the Orange their first lead since the opening minutes, and the arena rocked. He carried SU on an 8-0 run by himself. Juli and Jamie Boeheim, seated behind the SU bench, stood up and cheered. SU had taken control.

“Pittsburgh’s record doesn’t really reflect how challenging of a team they are,” said Howard, who drilled four 3-pointers and added two steals and two assists. “They’re just pitbulls on the court. They’re gonna play till the end with a great coach. That’s a bad mix for opponents. We had to come out and get a run, get some separation. We didn’t want to take them down to the wire.”

The Orange did that by pouncing on many openings, bursting through the silvers of space. Pitt had no answer, and the better team won. When the buzzer sounded the red lights went off, the Orange had earned their first win since March 2. Battle, in his blue jumpsuit, wore a wide smile as he high-fived each of his teammates, from the starters to the walk-ons, one by one.

Published on March 13, 2019 at 11:36 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21