I’d love to give you a big overarching message about this game. Some heavily symbolic storyline or theme. Really, though, it can be whatever you want. Make it macro, micro.

I don’t think there really is. It was a wild game. It was an absolute rarity in that so much was happening that Dick Vitale was actually forced to stay on point for most of the game. I’d love to be able to go big picture, but you can’t make those declarations at this point in the season. Doubly so in the Big East.

In fact, this piece by Luke Winn may be the best piece on the game.

It’s best, when covering college basketball, not to let your opinion of a team be swayed too much by one game, one half or one stretch. These are teams of collegians that can look terrific one week, awful the next. I suspect this is why national writers (myself included) are so bad at filling out NCAA tournament brackets. Despite our best efforts, we assign too much meaning to the marquee games we see firsthand — mostly because we’ve been sent to cover those games and write about what they mean.

And when you attend one of these games — such as Monday’s duel between No. 3 (and undefeated) Syracuse and No. 5 Pittsburgh — and the home team opens with a 19-0 run, it becomes impossible not to leap to a number of conclusions.

And whether it is just a senior knowing the big picture, or Coach Dixon’s message being repeated, even the players are cautious about ascribing a big picture to this game.

But when I asked McGhee if the win had any kind of greater meaning for Pitt, he said he wasn’t sure. “It shows we do a great job of defending our home court,” he said, “and that we do a great job against Syracuse.”

Indeed, you can establish plenty of reasons to keep perspective on this win. Let’s keep in mind:

— Pitt is now 13-3 vs. Syracuse since 2001. They continue to run a clinic on how to beat Boeheim’s 2-3 zone.

— Pitt was the home team.

— The preseason rankings had Pitt winning the Big East, not ‘Cuse.

— National ranking-wise there is little difference between #3 and #5.

— Syracuse was without its leading scorer, Kris Joseph.

— Pitt is now 9-0 at the Pete against top-5 teams.

Does it change that Pitt won a big game? That it was a lot of fun to watch? That Pitt is definitely for real? Absolutely not.

Maybe. Except that Boeheim, when he took the podium for his postgame remarks, said something that could be worth remembering. He complimented Pitt’s depth, its defense and its rebounding, and said that it was a better shooting team than he’d seen in the past. “To me, they’ve had good teams,” he said, “but this is a really good team.”

This was coming from someone who didn’t need to say it. Someone who’s used to getting beat by the Panthers, and has perspective that spans seasons, rather than 19-0 runs. If Boeheim can discern a difference in Pitt, then maybe we should, too. There’s no way that he could be caught up in the moment, right?

Pitt sits atop the Big East with a 6-0 record, and 18-1. It’s best start in the conference ever. Pitt has knocked off Georgetown on the road. Beaten the Orange and UConn at home. Survived a game against Providence. The Big East (and college basketball in general) is about dominating at home while doing better than .500 on the road.

To date, the Big East’s championship contenders are defending homecourt as fiercely as Troy Polamalu protects the goal line.

Home teams won both of the league’s two Big Monday games, bringing the collective home record of the league’s top six squads to 17-1.

Most of them still have a half-dozen or so league home games left. It appears the decisive issue in winning the league title will be which can continue dominating the home turf.

Pitt has 5 home games left and 7 on the road. Pitt needs to keep winning at home. Something most who saw last night’s atmosphere don’t see as too difficult.

…But, let’s be honest, that’s mostly a waste of time when the truth is so much simpler.

Why did Syracuse lose to Pitt at the Pete?

Because Syracuse played Pitt at the Pete.

That’s the bottom line. You play Pitt at Pete, you lose. You’re better off challenging Johnny to a fiddle-playing contest in Georgia.

“The Zoo really helps us out a lot,” Pitt forward Gilbert Brown said in reference to the famed student section at the Pete after helping the Panthers to a 74-66 win in front of a record crowd of 12,925. “There is a reason why we’re so tough to play at home.”

Now Pitt needs to keep it up and carry it on the road. The good news for the road? It includes Rutgers, DePaul and USF. The flipside: Villanova, WVU, Louisville and St. John’s.

There will be losses. More likely on the road, than at the Pete. This conference is just too deep and tough for losses not to occur.

Right now, just enjoy the moment.