PITTSBURGH – Jim Boeheim could only spread the minutes so much. His rotation had dwindled to seven, and two of his players were on the court for all 40 minutes. Jamie Dixon used 10 players. The minutes were dispersed so evenly that none of his players came within nine minutes of playing a full game.

Despite Syracuse’s thin bench, Boeheim said the lack of depth didn’t play a role in his team’s 65-55 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Since the Orange’s games are still spread out, the possibility of wearing the players down isn’t a concern yet.

“They have good depth. I still think seven or eight guys are enough,” Boeheim said. “Over the course of a four-game tournament or something like that, then that’s when depth is more of a factor. When your games are spaced out I don’t think it’s as big of a factor, but they have good depth.”

With James Southerland still ineligible and DaJuan Coleman out for four weeks after knee surgery, Boeheim’s rotation has gone from nine to seven.

Seven of the Orange’s players saw time on the court, with forwards C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant playing all 40 minutes. Overall, four of Syracuse’s players played for at least 30 minutes. Pittsburgh, though, played 10 players. None of them were on the court longer than 30 minutes.

The Panthers’ bench shot 11-of-19, while SU’s bench finished 1-of-2 from the field. All told, Pittsburgh’s bench outscored Syracuse’s 31-3.

After the game, Dixon said he’s never seen Boeheim use a deep bench, and that was no different on Saturday. But the Pittsburgh head coach also said his team’s depth has been critical to the Panthers’ 18-win season so far.

“Our strength is in our 10,” Dixon said. “We had 10 guys score and nine got rebounds. Ten guys is the strength of this team, all of them played well.”

The Panthers also didn’t have anyone score more than 13 points, and seven players scored at least six. Guard Tray Woodall led the Panthers with 13 points, and he never played for a stretch that was longer than about seven and a half minutes.

Sitting in front of his locker after the game, Fair, SU’s leading scorer with 20 points, said he wasn’t tired after playing for all 40 minutes. It was the fourth straight game where Fair played every minute, and he’s played at least 38 minutes in each of Syracuse’s games going back to its Jan. 6 win at South Florida. Fair said he’s used to playing the whole game by now.

Since Syracuse plays zone, the players can conserve at least some degree of energy at the defensive end of the floor. Pittsburgh also isn’t a team that pushes the tempo, Fair said.

“I don’t think it played a role in this because we play zone and it isn’t like they’re running up the tempo fast,” Fair said. “You’re not wearing yourself out playing the whole game against a team like Pittsburgh.”

While the Orange’s bench might be short because of the loss of Southerland and Coleman, a rotation of seven players isn’t necessarily new for Syracuse.

Last season, the Orange had 10 players average at least eight minutes in Big East play. In 2010-11, the Orange had eight players to hit that mark. In 2009-10, seven of Syracuse’s players averaged at least eight minutes in conference play. So while a rotation of seven players might seem small, it’s not something Boeheim hasn’t used in recent years.

Saturday was the first time Syracuse has used only seven players this season, and it came against a team in Pittsburgh that thrives on its depth. Boeheim said a thin bench wasn’t an issue and Fair insisted he wasn’t tired after playing the whole game.

So while depth might not have been the reason the Orange lost, the Panthers rode their deep rotation to a win.

“We always talk about the strength of our team being in numbers,” Woodall said. “Today everyone stepped up and we came away with a great one.”

Published on February 3, 2013 at 6:09 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman