NCAA
Syracuse 58, Pittsburgh 56
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
PITTSBURGH — Freshman guard Tyler Ennis’ 3-point field goal at the buzzer enabled No. 1 Syracuse to beat No. 25 Pittsburgh 58-56 in dramatic fashion Wednesday night as the Orange set a school record with their 24th consecutive victory.
Pitt had gone ahead by one point when senior center Talib Zanna made two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Syracuse inbounded the ball to Ennis and he hit a running 30-footer.
Syracuse (24-0, 11-0 ACC) trailed by nine points with 14:59 remaining but Ennis put the Orange ahead 55-54 when he knocked down two free throws with 10 seconds to go.
Senior forward C.J. Fair led Syracuse with 14 points. Ennis finished with 12 points and five assists and sophomore guard Trevor Cooney had 11 points.
Zanna scored a game-high 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Senior forward Lamar Patterson added 14 points for Pittsburgh (20-5, 8-4).
Syracuse won 23 games in a row during a stretch that spanned the 1916-17 and 1917-18 seasons. It marked the third time in the last five seasons that Pitt snapped an Orange double-digit winning streak.
Pitt outscored Syracuse 10-4 at the start of the second half to move in front by nine points, 37-28, on a 3-point field goal by Patterson with 14:59 remaining.
However, Syracuse came back to tie the score at 45-45 on Cooney’s 3-point field goal with 6:55 left.
Pitt scored five consecutive points to go ahead for good, 50-45. Zanna converted a three-point play with 6:49 to go and freshman forward Jamel Artis made a pair of free throws 43 seconds later.
Syracuse drew within one point at 54-53 on Fair’s 3-pointer with 52 seconds left, setting up the wild finish.
Pitt led 27-24 at halftime.
After falling behind 8-6 six minutes into the game, Pitt used an 18-9 spurt to take a 24-17 lead on Patterson’s 3-point field goal with 4:29 left. Syracuse then cut the deficit to three by halftime.
Zanna, who has been hampered by a sprained ankle in recent weeks, had seven points and eight rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Sophomore forward Michael Gbinjie scored seven points off the bench to lead Syracuse.
NOTES: Syracuse reserve senior C Baye Moussa Keita was not in uniform after injuring his knee on Sunday in a win over Clemson. The Orange are hopeful of getting Keita back Saturday when they host North Carolina State. … Pitt visits North Carolina on Saturday. … Pitt was presented with a welcoming surfboard from the Maui Invitational tournament committee during a first-half timeout. The Panthers will participate in the eight-team event from Nov. 24-26 at Lahaina, Hawaii along with Arizona, Brigham Young, Kansas State, Missouri, Purdue, San Diego State and host Chaminade.
