Pitt beats Syracuse 72-71, will face UNC Thursday

Pittsburgh’s chances of reaching the NCAA tournament improved greatly Wednesday, and it has senior guard James Robinson to thank for its late push past Syracuse.

Robinson had a crucial steal and two baskets in closing minutes to lift the eighth-seeded Panthers to a 72-71 defeat of the ninth-seeded Orange in the second round of the ACC tournament at Verizon Center.

Redshirt freshman Cameron Johnson scored a career-high 24 points for Pittsburgh (21-10, 9-9 ACC), which will meet top-seeded North Carolina (25-6, 14-4) in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Tar Heels won the teams’ first meeting 85-64 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 14.

Syracuse (19-13, 9-9) erased a 12-point deficit in the final four minutes, tying it at 68 when Tyler Roberson’s steal led to a Michael Gbinije (24 points) dunk. But Robinson soon off a pass from Franklin Howard and rolled in for a fastbreak layup with 1:04 left, and added a jumper with 22.2 seconds remaining.

“There was no time to panic,” Robinson said. “When Roberson had the steal, we had plenty of possessions left in the game. I just saw an opportunity to shoot the gap on defense and I took it.”

After a Gbinije 3-pointer, Robinson missed the front end of a one-and-one but senior guard Trevor Cooney missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the Orange’s hopes.

Both Pittsburgh and Syracuse appeared in solid shape to return to the NCAA tournament after a one-year hiatus, only to drop a pair of road games in the final week of the regular season to imperil those hopes.

While the Panthers secured a third victory over Syracuse to bolster its postseason hopes, the Orange is left in peril of missing the tournament after dropping five of its last six.

“I’m not on the committee,” Orange coach Jim Boeheim said. “Every coach in the country that’s got any kind of record thinks they should get in the tournament. What do you want me to say? They’re going to have to evaluate what we’ve done based on all the circumstances and make a decision.”

After Syracuse built a 24-14 lead, Johnson emerged to resuscitate Pittsburgh’s chances to advance. Johnson reached the 10-point plateau only twice all season – against Division II Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) and lowly Boston College – and missed the Panthers’ regular-season finale with an elbow laceration. But he scored eight points in a row to tie it at 26, and finished the first half with a dozen points.

“Sometimes you appreciate a guy even more when he’s out,” Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. “We went 0 of 11 from three. As everybody talked about, we haven’t shot it well the last two games. We consider him our best shooter, the guy we have the most confidence in. Obviously, it was big for us, and the zone was a big part of that.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 2:48 PM with the headline "Pitt beats Syracuse 72-71, will face UNC Thursday."