Busy morning delayed getting to this. I am happy to write that no paper chose to use the fact that the games were played on Valentine’s day to go with a “Valentine’s Day Massacre” headline.

Forgot, last night to link the Pitt press release and full box score and play-by-play info.

Local coverage had headlines touting Krauser or Troutman.

Pitt point guard Carl Krauser hadn’t made a basket in 32 minutes. He was 1 for 9 from the field, and the Panthers were about to get buried by a late Syracuse surge.

But that situation is just the kind of stage Krauser covets. When everything is falling apart around him, he takes pride in putting the pieces back together. With the game on the line, Krauser made three 3-pointers in the final 6:33 and lifted the Panthers to an impressive 68-64 victory before 24,631 at the Carrier Dome.

“Carl is as tough a kid as I’ve ever been around,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “Our guys feed off his toughness.”

It was the second consecutive game that Krauser provided late heroics to lift Pitt to victory.

As for Troutman.

Chevon Troutman put an index finger to his lips and sent a message to the once-robust crowd at the Carrier Dome on Monday night: Shhhhh!

He then proceeded to connect on four consecutive free throws in the final 18 seconds to lead Pitt to a 68-64 victory over Syracuse in front of 24,631. He flashed a sly grin immediately afterwards.

“The crowd here is always messing with me, so I figured I’d mess with them a little,” said Troutman, who did everything but blow a Valentine’s Day goodbye kiss to the masses. “I was having a little fun.”

Pitt has won 7 of 9 from Syracuse and swept a two-game season from them for the third time. Pitt only needs to do that 14 consecutive times and the overall Pitt-Syracuse series will be even at 60.

Dick Weiss at the NY Daily News was impressed with the game.

It went well enough for the 18th-ranked Panthers (18-4, 8-3 Big East) to sweep eighth-ranked Syracuse (22-4, 9-3) for the second time in three years. Pitt seemingly has the Orange’s number, beating them for the fourth time in six games. The Panthers are just a half-game behind the Orange in the Big East standings. Boston College (20-1, 9-1), which plays Syracuse Saturday in Chestnut Hill, is all alone in first place.

Krauser, who made just two of his first 12 shots and shot just 5-for-13 overall, may not be the best shooter, but he makes big shots. “He’s a beast,” Pitt’s 6-7, 350-pound senior forward Chevon Troutman said. “He never thinks he’s going to lose. He thinks he’s always going to win. He’ll do everything in his power to keep us in the game, keep us ahead.”

Troutman contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds in another huge performance, taking the game away with four straight layups. Center Chris Taft, who had been in a funk, shot 6-for-8 and added 15 points for Pitt, which shot 50% in the second half and found just enough holes in Syracuse’s normally sticky 2-3 zone to rally from a 58-50 deficit in the final 6:58.

Pitt’s defense in the last 7 minutes was a big reason that Syracuse just couldn’t get their shots to fall in the end. Not that Syracuse’s players want to be big about this.

Still, the Orange players left the game incredulous, most of them believing they could have won if not for a few missed 3-pointers down the stretch.

“Not a knock on them,” said SU guard Louie McCroskey, “but I know we got a lot more talent than these guys. I wouldn’t say they’re more physical than us, they just make the plays.”

I always love that weak-assed protest. “We’re better, we didn’t get beaten, they just made the plays.” Shame it came from McCroskey, since he did have a great game. He was the better of the Syracuse Macs last night. Still if McCroskey and maybe some of the other Orange don’t think they were outphysicaled, he might want to watch the tape. He also might want to talk to one other teammate.

“I just think we need to be ready to go out there and play,” Syracuse senior center Craig Forth, who had 10 rebounds for the second straight game, said. “Too many teams push us around. Teams that win push us around.”

Sounds like a player who knows who the more physical team was.

Even the Orange partisans know what they saw.

“If you don’t like being in a game like this,” said Krauser, the rugged Pitt guard, “if you don’t like being in the Big East, then I don’t think you’re a basketball player. You know, you could be a hooper. But you can’t be a basketball player.”

Uh huh. It was another one of those kinds of affairs … as if there are any other kinds in this league during this month when clubs at the top collide. Tough. Gritty. Exhausting. You know the drill. And Krauser captured the evening’s sentiments perfectly.
…
The Panthers (18-4) also did their part in setting the blacksmithian tone for the night. Indeed, this was not one of those presentations that came with lace trim, a fact supported by the stat sheet which showed that the two squads combined to miss 65 of the 107 shots they’d heaved from the field.

That clanging, though, merely underscored the personality of the contest.

Now, the 18th-ranked Panthers, who are 40 games over .500 between this season and last, are not without talent. But their girth is what folks sooner or later discuss around the office coffeepot. And for good reason. After all, Pitt unleashed 10 guys in the Dome and six of them weighed at least 220 pounds, including Aaron Gray, Chris Taft and Chevon Troutman, who together make the scales groan to the tune of nearly 800 big ones.

And they know how to use the beef. You may remember that in the first SU-Pitt match 16 days earlier, the Panthers had outrebounded the Orange 39-28. And on Monday, there was more of the same as the visitors pushed their hosts around, especially in the first half, as if the latter were on dollies, ultimately winning the bout under the boards once again, this time by a 41-32 margin.

The people in Syracuse recognize good basketball players, and there was more than a little admiration for Chevy Troutman.

Chevon Troutman, Pitt’s big-time bruiser, once again threw his weight around against Syracuse. While it seemed the Orange was intent on stopping the 6-foot-7, 240-pound senior, they soon realized there was little they could do to stop him legally.

None of the papers made any complaints about the way the game was called, and the times Troutman made it to the line. Syracuse, especially Warrick shied away from really battling inside against Pitt when on offense.

Amusing note: two different papers and reporters from the Syracuse area wrote up the game, and essentially ran the beginning theme.

Exhibit A:

Another “Big Monday” appearance on ESPN turned into a manic Monday for the Syracuse Orange. Just as it did against Connecticut a week ago, Syracuse squandered a late lead, allowing the Pittsburgh Panthers to rally from eight points down just over six minutes to play for a stunning 68-64 victory in front of 24,631 fans at the Carrier Dome on Monday night.

Last week’s 74-66 loss to Connecticut snapped Syracuse’s 16-game home winning streak. Now the Orange has lost back-to-back games at the Carrier Dome for the first time since losing its last three regular-season home games in the 2001-02 season.

Exhibit B:

Another “Big Monday” at the Carrier Dome, another big loss for Syracuse University.

For the second straight week on ESPN’s national telecast, the ninth-ranked Orange came up small down the stretch and lost, 68-64, to No. 17 Pittsburgh before a crowd of 24,631.

SU squandered a five-point lead last week against Connecticut. Against Pitt, it saw an eight-point advantage evaporate over the final seven minutes. The Orange’s veteran lineup started the season 5-0 in games decided by eight points or fewer, but has now lost three of its last four, all to ranked opponents (Pitt twice and UConn).

The other reason both teams wanted this game, both are off until the weekend. Syracuse plays Saturday night, Pitt Sunday afteroon. Hate the idea of having to stew for the rest of the week with a loss.