#1 Syracuse 'Upsets' #25 Pittsburgh With Last Second Shot; Vegas Feels The Sting Of Defeat
By#1 Syracuse (24-0, 11-0) "upset" #25 Pittsburgh (20-5, 8-4) on Wednesday night, 58-56, on a 35-foot last second shot. They were underdogs by 2.5 (on Vegas Insider; 1.5 on other sites) on the Panthers' home court.
After writing three paragraphs of pure rant against Vegas' lack of respect (even though I'm a big Villanova fan and don't really like 'Cuse that much), I was in danger of losing whatever was left of my college basketball credibility (15-18 pick 'em record so far) until freshman Tyler Ennis made two free throws with about ten seconds left to give Syracuse the one-point lead and basically ensure the cover.
On the other end, Pitt's leading scorer that night, Talib Zanna, was fouled with about four seconds left and made both free throws (I was rooting for at least one out of two, even if it jeopardized the cover). Then, Tyler Ennis dribbled halfway up the court and took what was maybe not the best shot he could have gotten, but was at least a square look. It hit the left side of the back iron and dropped in neatly for the "upset." Later, Vice President and Syracuse law grad Joe Biden called Ennis for a personal congratulations, according to ESPN.
At first glance, it would appear a near draw between me and the audacious odds makers (and a win by decision for me) who gave Syracuse 2.5 points it never needed, for Pittsburgh very nearly covered. Upon further review, however, I'm going to give myself the unanimous victory because if you're going to put out a bold line against the #1 team that's also undefeated this late into the season, it better hold. Likely, most people put their extra cash on the Orange last night in the gambler's mindset of "ride them until they brake" and "always bet the number one team when they're 23-0 and facing the 25th ranked team in the country, even if they're at home."
But what is a good shot?
As a coach or fan of the Orange, I would have been slightly perturbed before seeing the shot's end result because four seconds is a lot of time to get a better look than that. Most likely, the Orange had something else drawn up, but Ennis didn't see anyone else open or momentarily foresaw the futre and decided to go with the surest option. To his credit, he created enough space and got a solid enough look at the basket without having to alter his release much. A closer, but more rushed opportunity might have looked better, but it may not have actually been a higher percentage play.
"I saw someone ran over to Trevor and I just had to beat one guy," Ennis told ESPN. "I knew they weren't going to let Trevor get it. I just had to get some space. I knew I could get open for a second."