Syracuse (10-6, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) stormed out to a 21-point halftime lead over Pittsburgh, holding the Panthers (12-4, 1-2) to 20.7-percent shooting from the field in the first half before cruising to a 77-66 win in the Carrier Dome. The Orange, on the other hand, shot 51.9 percent from both the field and from 3-point range in its second consecutive win.

Here are your superlatives from the game.

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MORE COVERAGE

• Syracuse shuts off Jamel Artis in high post to stunt Pittsburgh offense in 77-66 win
• What we learned from Syracuse’s 77-66 win over Pittsburgh
• Syracuse men’s basketball’s offense has found a groove with better efficiency in past two games
• John Gillon plays ‘as good as you can get’ in Syracuse’s 77-66 win over Pittsburgh

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Big moment — John Gillon finds Tyler Roberson for alley-oop

The big moment could’ve been when the ball flew into the air for the opening tip. This one was pretty much over shortly after the game started. But a fitting exclamation point on a dominating Syracuse win came late in the second half, when Gillon drove to the left side of the hoop and found a streaking Roberson coming down the other side of the paint. Roberson finished the lob with gusto to put Syracuse up 22, making it four straight games the senior forward has a highlight-reel dunk.

Stud — John Gillon

In his second game exclusively manning the point, Gillon recorded his first double-double in a Syracuse uniform with 20 points and 11 assists. Though the fifth-year senior turned the ball over four times, he tied a career high with six 3-pointers. On one, the ball rolled around the rim before falling and Gillon shot a grin toward the Syracuse bench. On another, Gillon yelled for Roberson to post up, before heaving from deep himself and shrugging with a smile at the bench when the ball fell for his sixth long ball. Gillon reached his double-double in emphatic fashion, his 10th assists coming on the alley-oop to Roberson.

Dud — Cameron Johnson

In Pittsburgh’s ACC tournament second-round win over Syracuse last year, Johnson led the Panthers with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting and a 4-of-11 mark from deep. On Saturday, the redshirt sophomore missed his first six shots, hitting his first with 12:26 left in the game. He finished with only seven points on 2-of-10 shooting from the field and a 1-of-7 mark from 3.

Highlight — Tyler Roberson block on Ryan Luther

When Luther caught the ball in the low post midway through the first half, all he had to do for an easy layup with ample space was turn and lay the ball in. But he gave Roberson enough time to dart over from the weak side and send Luther’s shot into the Syracuse bench. The SU senior forward only scored four points but tallied 10 rebounds and six blocks in his second straight game as a defensive force down low.

Lowlight — Pittsburgh forgetting how to make a shot

Over a span of 11 minutes and 15 seconds in the first half, Pittsburgh didn’t make a single field goal. Finally Chris Jones finished a layup on top of a foul with 2:35 left in the opening half, ending a stretch in which a 14-8 Syracuse lead ballooned to 40-12 and the Panthers’ only four points came from the foul line. It was the second straight game Syracuse’s zone defense has stifled a formidable ACC offense, as the Panthers scored 16 fewer points than their season average.

Published on January 7, 2017 at 2:00 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman