PITTSBURGH — It didn’t take long for the jam-packed crowd at the Petersen Events Center to make its presence felt Monday. Even before the game had begun, fans had already started to get inside the heads of Syracuse’s players.

Dealing with a boisterous, foul-mouthed student section becomes second nature in college basketball. Still, the record crowd that filled the arena showed why few teams have ever won in this building. The constant chirping only added to what was already being billed as one of the games of the year in the Big East.

‘It was more than usual,’ Syracuse point guard Scoop Jardine said. ‘They did their homework, too. They were screaming my grandma’s name, screaming my address. They were on us.’

No. 5 Pittsburgh rode the adrenaline of the sold-out crowd of 12,925 — 417 more than its listed capacity — at the Petersen Events Center to a 74-66 win over No. 3 Syracuse. From an hour before tip to the final buzzer, the crowd contributed to an electric atmosphere in front of a nationally televised audience.

When Pitt grabbed the game’s first five points, even a Syracuse timeout couldn’t stop the Panthers momentum. Pitt proceeded to score the game’s next 14 points, culminating in a 19-0 run to start the game and put the Orange in its biggest deficit of the season.

After the game, Jardine brushed off the overall effect of the hostile crowd, saying simply, ‘That’s basketball.’ But teammate Brandon Triche wouldn’t do the same.

‘It did faze us,’ Triche said. ‘The crowd was like a sixth man. That was why they were able to go on that 19-0 run.’

And with that run, the pressure continued to mount for the Orange. The key, SU head coach Jim Boeheim said, was to chip away at the lead and make play after play instead of looking at what appeared to be an insurmountable lead. But with the early double-digit lead, perhaps the damage had already been done.

With each big play, fans shot out of their seats into a standing ovation. Sparked from that initial run, the capacity crowd only fueled the fire.

‘It was crazy,’ Pittsburgh forward Gilbert Brown said. ‘When we made that first run, that was probably the loudest the Pete has ever been since I’ve been here.’

The crowd that refused to sit down for timeouts and harped relentlessly on anything wearing Orange invigorated its Panther squad throughout. Again and again, the Orange would inch closer but could never take the lead.

Instead, Pitt reeled off the next seven points, with the crowd making every basket or big defensive stop appear like a mini-run.

‘It goes back to the crowd and the atmosphere here,’ Triche said. ‘We made our runs but weren’t able to finish. Every big play they made just got the crowd back in it.’

The Orange got as close as 46-44 with a C.J. Fair free throw with 12:08 to play but couldn’t get any closer. Pitt’s Brad Wanamaker drilled a 3-pointer on the next possession, eliciting a huge reaction from the student section. The basket kick-started a 7-0 spurt that made the Orange go to a full-court press in a futile attempt to douse the fire.

With the win, Pitt improved its record at ‘the Pete’ to an impressive 9-0 against top-five teams since it opened in 2002. In its nine years, only 11 teams have entered ‘the Pete’ and emerged victorious.

Down 19 early, the Orange had its work cut out attempting a comeback in such a place.

The crowd largely remained standing for the final minutes and gave the Panthers a standing ovation with 37.9 seconds remaining and Pitt leading 72-64. Another ovation followed with 23 seconds remaining. Shortly after, the ‘overrated’ chants began.

‘Every time we made a run or made a big stop, the crowd was right there behind us,’ Brown said. ‘They were truly our sixth man. It was big for us. I think having a crowd like this really helps us out a lot and is the reason we’re so tough to play at home.’

aljohn@syr.edu

Published on January 17, 2011 at 12:00 pm