The No. 1 Syracuse Orange broke a lot of barriers Monday night in their 71-63 victory over the Big East foe Pittsburgh Panthers.
They beat Pitt for the first time since 2006 and the first time in the Dome since 2003 (which was a good year).
The 20-0 start is officially the best in school history.
The win was the 876th in Jim Boeheim's career, tying him with Kentucky legend Adolph Rupp for the fourth-most wins in Division 1 history.
This week's complaint about the Orange is that they lack a "go-to guy" who can carry them when needed. And perhaps its true that there isn't one guy you can point to and say, "that is Syracuse's one and only go-to guy."
However...
Scoop Jardine finished the night with a double-double, scoring 12 points and dishing ten assists.
Fab Melo also had a double-double, grabbing ten boards to go with ten points and six blocks.
Kris Joseph quietly scored 12 points, including an extremely-clutch three-pointer late when the Orange needed to create space.
Dion Waiters scored 16 points, went 6-of-8 from the line, and hit a ton of shots late to secure the win.
Brandon Triche scored 12 points and went 6-of-7 from the line.
Oh and C.J. Fair did this (via Cuse Country)...
Yep, Syracuse sure is lacking in go-to guys. That's a real big problem for this team.
As was expected from a Pitt game, it was ugly at times. As the Orange slowed down, whether by choice or not, their offense stalled. Anytime they were about to close the door, the Panthers used a surge of momentum and a lack of cohesion from SU to claw their way back into the game.
And then there was the rebounding issue, which once-again went heavily against the Orange (38-24). I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of seeing multiple guys in orange get beat for defensive rebounds and easy defensive grabs for the opposition.
Then again, we are 20-0. At this point, we know what we're good at and we know what we're not. So long as we can compensate for those short-comings, we'll keep coming up with wins.
Up next, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday in South Bend. The Irish have looked surprisingly good and they'll be out in full force for the undefeated No. 1 Orange. Until then, keep on basking, Cuse fans.