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Chris Bell was surprised to hear that Syracuse shot a season-high 32 3-pointers against Pitt. Bell’s first reaction to the number? Syracuse probably shouldn’t take that many.

“Thirty-two 3s is, I don’t think we shoot that many naturally. It just surprises me. That’s the only reason I say that,” Bell said postgame.

Bell, who tied his season-high with four triples, didn’t treat SU’s aggressiveness as a negative. It was a common sentiment among the locker room. If players are open, they should shoot. Not much of a complicated formula.

The dilemma is Syracuse hasn’t shot the ball well this season. It’s spent the entire season near rock bottom in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s 3-point percentage, which is most likely the reason for Bell’s qualms.

Syracuse’s (9-11, 3-6 ACC) high-volume shooting yielded some positive outcomes. The Orange tied a season-high with 11 3-pointers and connected on 34% of their looks — well above their season average of 30%. However, the Orange ended up falling to Pitt (13-6, 4-4 ACC) 77-73. Five different players knocked down triples, while Bell, Elijah Moore and J.J. Starling hit multiple. It still wasn’t enough as SU dropped its second straight game.

“I didn’t think we took any bad ones,” Autry said of the 3-pointers postgame. “The right guys shot them.”

Saturday was the fourth straight time Syracuse has attempted at least 20 3s in a game. It’s the longest stretch attempting that many 3s since SU’s opening five games, where it was attempting 21.8 per game and hitting just 25.6% of them.

Over the course of its next six games, Syracuse never reached the threshold of 20 3-pointers. Though in its past nine games, it’s only failed to attempt that many once. Bell said that there hasn’t been any extra pressure to shoot more 3s, from the coaching staff and it mostly happened naturally.

“I don’t think it’s been emphasized to take that many 3s, but I think it’s been emphasized to to take shots where you’re open,” Bell said.

Syracuse took that to heart against Pitt. It was coming off its best-shooting performance of the season against Clemson, where it went 11-of-21 from range.

The Orange continued that efficiency off the bat, bombarding the Panthers with 3s early. J.J. Starling got SU on the board with a contested 3-pointer at the top of the key. Then, he set up Jyáre Davis on a pick-and-pop action on the perimeter. Davis — who’s only knocked down six 3s prior to Saturday — confidently stroked home his look. Moore got in on the action after finding himself open in the corner a couple minutes later.

Just like that, Syracuse was 3-for-3 from deep and held a 13-4 advantage. The success didn’t last very long. The Orange went 2-for-12 the rest of the half, including missing their last six attempts. Bell tried to get up one last look but had his shot deflected by Zack Austin.

At halftime, Syracuse was 5-of-15 from deep, but still led 33-32. The amount of 3s came as a bit of a surprise to Pitt head coach Jeff Capel.

“I’m not going to say I expected it. I know their guards are super aggressive, and they take what’s there,” Capel said.

The Orange were just as aggressive coming out of the break. Pitt tried to shut down driving lanes by packing the paint and keeping Starling from getting to the rim. Starling spent the final 11 minutes of the first half on the bench with two personal fouls but hunted for his shot when he returned to action.

He often saw multiple bodies and either forced him into tough shots or to kick it out to someone. That wasn’t a problem for Starling, who drained a 3-pointer to put Syracuse up 38-34 1:32 into the second half. Pitt responded with a quick run to take the lead, before Moore came through with another 3 to tie the game at 43-43. The freshman, who recently went through a seven-game drought without a 3-pointer, made multiple 3s in a game for the first time since Dec. 21 against Maryland.

Bell also got going, after attempting just two 3s across the last two games. The junior has found it tougher to get his shot off this season, due to teams preventing him from simply catching and shooting. It’s forced him to try and get open off pin down screens and other actions. After a 1-for-5 first half from 3, Bell tried not to be discouraged and only missed one of his four attempts in the second half.

“That’s just what I did today. Instead of just going 1-for-5 and then, like, damn it, and just staying at 1-for-5, I just kept shooting. And good things happen,” Bell said.

Pitt claimed an eight-point lead with 8:19 remaining, but a 3 from Bell brought it back to a one possession game. It was a common theme in the second half. SU would get it to one possession but couldn’t get enough stops to bring it ahead.

With 17 seconds left, Bell hit SU’s 11th and final 3 to make it 73-71. It gave Syracuse a potential shot at tying the game with a 3 if Pitt split a pair of free throws. But Jaland Lowe iced the contest at the line hitting both and Syracuse never got that chance.

Despite the negative outcome, SU’s free to fire approach could prove to be a useful tool going forward.

“It just came down to us just trusting each other and just making the right reads,” Starling said. “Tonight it just so happened to be, you know, the 3-balls.”

Published on January 25, 2025 at 6:40 pm

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