PITTSBURGH — Facing an 11-point deficit and most of the second half still to go, Syracuse had Pittsburgh right where it wanted it. Not only did SU enter Saturday’s game on a five-game winning streak, but it won the last three by overcoming a double-digit gap on the scoreboard.

With 14:51 still to go, in came Frank Howard and Tyler Roberson off the bench. Out went Tyus Battle, Taurean Thompson and the Orange’s best chance to string together a fourth straight remarkable comeback.

Battle hasn’t been himself in the past couple games, fighting a cold that resulted in him playing only 16 minutes. Thompson exited with three fouls and wouldn’t reenter for 12 more minutes, with only 2:21 remaining. Both players have engineered their own comebacks in this recent stretch— Battle against Virginia, Thompson against Clemson — but playing 16 minutes each never allowed Syracuse to play like its capable of.

“We bring a lot of offense and defense to the table,” Thompson said about him and Battle. “We have chemistry.

“I do think we’re the best team when we’re both on the court.”

Instead, Thompson was left on the bench to imagine how he could have altered plays he was never a part of. Battle watched the Orange offense finally start to pick up in his absence, but that didn’t happen until the game’s final minutes. Syracuse (16-10, 8-5 Atlantic Coast) never did finish off a long game of catchup, and the result was an 80-75 loss to Pittsburgh (14-11, 3-9) at Peterson Events Center on Saturday afternoon.

Without Thompson, SU is forced to lean on an offensively-challenged Tyler Roberson. The senior might be the more stable defender, but the Orange’s shooting options are limited greatly in the absence of Thompson. Without Battle, Syracuse has to run with a two-point guard lineup that isn’t as efficient from the behind the arc. Howard’s one 3-pointer, drawing Syracuse within seven with 70 seconds to go, was his second since Dec. 19 against Eastern Michigan.

Without two freshmen who have proven to be key cogs in SU’s late-season revival, the offensive ceiling of this team is severely diminished.

“We got a ‘next man up kind’ of feeling around here,” Howard said. “…It shouldn’t be a problem (replacing Thompson and Battle), but today we just didn’t bring it.”

By the end of the first half, Roberson and Howard combined for a plus-minus of -26, with Roberson sporting a -16 on his own. The Orange was +9 with Thompson on the court in the opening stanza, despite going into halftime with a seven-point deficit.

---

MORE COVERAGE

• The Final Word: Syracuse falls at Pittsburgh, 80-75
• Graphical breakdown of Syracuse’s 80-75 loss at Pittsburgh
• What we learned after Syracuse’s 80-75 loss at Pittsburgh
• Tyler Lydon held to only 8 points in Syracuse’s 80-75 loss at Pittsburgh
• Gallery: Syracuse loses to Pittsburgh, 80-75

---

Battle was never really a factor for much of the game, and outside of his buzzer-beating 3 on Tuesday against Clemson, he was never a big contributor in that game either. His father, Gary Battle, tweeted that his son had a fever before playing the Tigers, and Battle still looked dogged on the court against Pittsburgh.

He struggled to finish a pair of contested layups, and admitted with a hoarse voice after the game that he felt almost entirely out of sync.

“I just didn’t play well,” Battle said. “I haven’t practiced in a couple days, so it’s tough getting back in to all that stuff and jumping right back into the game. Especially because I’ve been sick, too.”

Thompson’s foul trouble only further fractured Syracuse’s chances of making a comeback. He scored only four points, but simply the threat of another shooter on the floor could have injected life into SU’s offense earlier than the final few minutes of the game. Roberson pitched in eight points, including a timely pair of free throws and offensive rebounds, but it took the Orange a while to get much offense working in the paint.

It’s become a frustrating theme for head coach Jim Boeheim, who said he’s used to Thompson playing in foul trouble by now. He then disputed that Battle played sick against Clemson, but what’s inarguable about Saturday’s game is that Syracuse doesn’t have the same ceiling without its star freshman.

All season, Tyler Lydon and Andrew White have shown to be the most pivotal scorers on the team. But in a game when SU’s offense sputtered for huge chunks of time, it was left to think what could have been if Battle and Thompson had played like they’re capable of.

Published on February 11, 2017 at 6:04 pm

Contact Connor: cgrossma@syr.edu | @connorgrossman