Orange Win Fifth Straight, Down Panthers

Saturday, January 25

Syracuse, N.Y.

12 PM

Syracuse University

13-7,6-3ACC

Pittsburgh

13-7,4-5ACC

Pittsburgh

Syracuse

1/25/2020 2:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse (13-7, 6-3 ACC) won its fifth straight decision, defeating Pittsburgh (13-7, 4-5 ACC), 69-61, Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. Buddy Boeheim led all players with 21 points and Marek Dolezaj added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Orange.

It was the 117^th meeting between the two former Big East Conference rivals and the 72^nd time the Orange triumphed over the Panthers. 'Cuse currently sits on its first five-game winning streak since the 2016-17 season.

MAREK MAKES IT HAPPEN
With Syracuse holding on to a 61-58 lead with under two minutes to play in regulation, Dolezaj grabbed an offensive rebound and converted the put-back to put the Orange back up by five. The junior from Slovakia then came up with a huge defensive play at the basket to force a Panther turnover and completed a Hail Mary pass to Elijah Hughes on the next possession, who slammed down a dunk to make the score 65-60, in favor of Syracuse. Dolezaj then stepped up to the line and converted two free throws and Joseph Girard III added two more to secure the fifth straight win for the Orange.

Dolezaj ended up a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.

'CUSE CAME TO PLAY
The Orange defense kept the Panthers off the scoreboard for the first 3:15 of action and did not allow a field goal in the opening 4:58 of the contest. Bourama Sidibe blocked two Pittsburgh shots in the solid defensive start.

Syracuse built an early 20-7 lead on the back of 10 points from Boeheim, including a 3-pointer, and successful 3-point plays from Dolezaj and Quincy Guerrier. The Orange carried their strong play in the paint in previous games into this one, outscoring the Panthers from in close, 14-4, in the early going.

The Orange took a 32-21 advantage into halftime, but led by as many as 19 points. Boeheim paced all players with 18 points in the first 20 minutes on three 3-balls, and Hughes set a new season-high with three blocked shots. Dolezaj and Sidibe posted five and six rebounds, respectively, and 'Cuse owned the glass, 27-16, in the first half.

STEADY START IN THE SECOND
Hughes earned his first points of the afternoon at the 17:30 mark of the second half and scored five consecutive Orange points. The sides played even basketball in the first 8:27 of the half, each scoring 14 points as Syracuse stayed ahead by 11. Boeheim added another make from beyond the arc to eclipse the 20-point plateau and Dolezaj converted all of his free throws to enter double figures.

PANTHER PUSH
Guerrier's second 3-point play of the game and a hard-fought layup brought the Orange lead back to 16 with 9:20 remaining in regulation. Pittsburgh answered with a 12-5 burst in the following four minutes to cut the deficit to nine thanks to 3-pointers from Ryan Murphy and Trey McGowens. Murphy added another 3-ball with 3:34 on the clock to trim the Syracuse advantage to five and Justin Champagnie buried a pair of free throws to make the score 61-58 with 2:01 to play.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Boeheim's 18 first half points tied a career-high, which he set last weekend at Virginia Tech.
Four Orange players scored in double figures (Boeheim – 21, Dolezaj – 17, Hughes – 10, Guerrier – 10).
Hughes scored in double digits for the 20th straight contest, a stretch that includes the full season.
Guerrier and Sidibe each posted eight rebounds. Pitt's Champagnie paced all players with nine. 'Cuse outrebounded the Panthers, 39-33.
Syracuse limited Pittsburgh to 21-of-54 (.389) from the field, including a 5-of-21 mark (.238) on 3-pointers.
The Orange bested Pittsburgh in the paint, 36-28.

UP NEXT
The Orange head back on the road to take on conference opponent Clemson on Tuesday, January 28. The game tips off at 7 p.m. and can be watched on the Regional Sports Network.

Syracuse welcomes Duke to the Dome next Saturday, the game set to begin at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Tickets for Duke and all regular-season home games are on sale now online (Cuse.com/tickets), by phone (888-DOME-TIX) and at the Dome Box Office located in the Ensley Athletic Center.

For complete coverage of Syracuse men's basketball, follow us on Twitter (@Cuse_MBB), Instagram (cuse_mbb) and like us on Facebook (SyracuseOrange).