Pitt pounds the boards as Jamel Artis wrecks Orange defense in win

His Pittsburgh teammates call forward Jamel Artis a ‘zone killer’ because he’s adept at driving into defenses and either creating shots for teammates or hitting one of his own.

Prior to Wednesday’s ACC opener at home against Syracuse, Artis told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, ‘This should be my game.’ The prediction based on his ability to breakdown zones proved to true as Artis flirted with a triple double in leading the Panthers to a 72-61 victory over the Orange, who were playing for the seventh time this season without coach Jim Boeheim on the bench and the first time in conference play.

[Diamond Stone leads Maryland rally with freshman record 39 points]

Boeheim is scheduled to miss two more conference game as part of the program’s punishment for NCAA rules violations. Even if Boeheim was in the building Wednesday, it’s doubtful the outcome would have been different. Syracuse simply had no answer for Artis and Pittsburgh’s depth.

Artis scored 18 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, leading a dominant effort on the boards for coach Jamie Dixon’s team. In his past three outings against Syracuse, Artis has amassed 54 points, 25 rebounds and 20 assists. It didn’t help Syracuse that center DaJuan Coleman fouled out with nearly seven minutes left in Wednesday’s game, making it even more difficult to slow down Artis.

As important as Artis was, Pitt outrebounded Syracuse 44-25, including gaining 19 offensive rebounds. All those second-chance opportunities made the difference.

[The 10 funniest college basketball moments from 2015]

Four Syracuse starters scored in double figures, but the Orange had only five points off the bench.

Pittsburgh went into the game just outside the top-25 with only one loss on its ledger. It now has 11 wins and has proved it’s capable of beating an ACC opponent without its legendary coach and lacking depth. Things will only get tougher and not every opponent will be willing to sit back in a zone and allow Artis to attack them the way the Orange do. But it was still an important victory for the Panthers whose previous best victory was beating Davidson earlier in the month.

– – – – – – –

[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo