After winning five straight and vaulting themselves not only into the NCAA Tournament discussion but also into the top four of the ACC, the Orange has lost a game. It was a game the Orange probably should have won, playing a lesser team on the road, but if we’ve seen one thing this year it’s that the Orange struggle on the road.

This time, it wasn’t as much the defense as it was the offense that let the Orange down. SU even got a few stops down the stretch of the game only to come up empty on the offensive end. Tyler Lydon didn’t play well, taking just one shot in the first half, and struggling to find a rhythm the rest of the game. John Gillon played well against Pitt for the second time this year, following the trend that Gillon is successful against bigger guards. Andrew White once again scored 20 points, his 6th straight game topping 20. But it wasn’t enough.

SU didn’t have a consistent third scoring option today with Tyus Battle fighting an illness and playing just 16 minutes and Tyler Lydon never looking comfortable. Frank Howard came on strong in the second half and finished with 12 points, but it wasn’t enough as the offense felt disjointed all afternoon.

Really, the game was similar to the game the Orange played on Tuesday against Clemson that ended with a buzzer beater. Syracuse had a number of chances to close the gap to two points and put some real pressure on Pittsburgh. That was the difference. Against Clemson, the Orange made a play here, finished on a layup there, and hit a three at the end to win it. That’s all Syracuse needed to do Saturday against Pittsburgh, but it couldn’t.

This loss doesn’t kill the season for the Orange. Syracuse still needs to win three games in the regular season to make the tournament, in my opinion, and reach that 11 win mark in ACC play. However, with an opportunity against one of the worst teams (record wise) in the ACC, this felt like a chance to get one of those three wins to reach 11.