Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Pitt's Chevon Troutman dunks the ball in front of Syracuse' Louie McCroskey in the second half Saturday night. Click photo for larger image.

It's not a formula Pitt coach Jamie Dixon is going to want to patent: Play poorly early, watch your opponent go up by double digits, and then stage a heroic comeback.

Sound coaching strategy? No. Successful? In the past two games, yes.

For the second consecutive game against the best the Big East Conference has to offer, Pitt got behind by 17 points early in the first half only to rally for a thrilling comeback victory.

A week ago, it was Connecticut. Last night, it was No. 4 Syracuse.

No. 20 Pitt blitzed the Orange in the second half on its way to a 76-69 victory before a capacity crowd of 12,508 at the Petersen Events Center.

"I don't know if we'll keep that one in our game plan," Dixon joked. "But it was not a panic situation. The guys responded well and made plays throughout. It's a great sign for us."

Junior point guard Carl Krauser scored all 19 of his points in the second half and had nine assists and six rebounds. Senior forward Chevon Troutman scored 12 of his 18 points after halftime and grabbed nine rebounds.

The Panthers (14-3, 4-2) also received big contributions from Levon Kendall and Keith Benjamin. Kendall, making the first start of his career, scored a season-high nine points (3 for 7 from 3-point range) and had five rebounds. Benjamin, a freshman reserve guard, had a career-high 10 points to go along with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

Pitt knocked off ranked opponents in consecutive games for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The most recent time it happened was January 2002, when the Panthers beat No. 23 St. John's and No. 11 Boston College.

Connecticut was No. 16 last week. Syracuse is ranked fourth. It was just the ninth time in school history that Pitt beat a team ranked fifth or better in The Associated Press poll.

Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Syracuse' Gerry McNamara fouls Pitt's Keith Benjamin. Click photo for larger image.

"They're two good teams, but we're a good team, too," Krauser said. "There was no reason we couldn't beat them. Anyone is beatable."

For Syracuse it was only the second loss of the season and the first in Big East play. Its only other loss came against Oklahoma State in early December.

Syracuse (20-2, 7-1) was led by junior guard Gerry McNamara, who had 26 points, but 10 of those came in the final 2:10 when Pitt had the game in hand. McNamara had one basket in the first 18 minutes of the second half, mostly because Pitt went to a 2-3 zone for most of the second half.

As a team, Syracuse made just 10 of 28 shots attempts in the second half, but half of those came in the final two minutes. The Orange went more than 11 minutes with just one field goal in the middle of the second half.

"When you don't make shots versus the zone, you'll struggle," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We were actually hoping they would play zone. We just didn't attack it very well. It's something we've struggled with all year."

Krauser did a good job of sticking close to McNamara on the perimeter and never allowed him to get many good looks at the hoop in the second half. McNamara was 7 for 17 from the field 5 for 14 from 3-point range.

Hakim Warrick contributed 25 points, but 10 of those came from the free-throw line. The other seven players Boeheim used contributed only 18 points.

"I just didn't force shots," McNamara said. "If they're going to take me away like that, then we should have other guys to make plays. [Krauser] didn't do anything. I just wasn't as aggressive after they went to that zone. In the first half, I was getting by him and making plays. It's kind of tough to do that against a zone because it's so spread out."

It looked as if it was going to be a Syracuse runaway early. The Orange made 8 of their first 14 shots from the floor and led, 22-5, with 10:30 remaining in the first half. Pitt trailed Connecticut by 17 with about the same amount of time remaining in the first half last week.

"There was too much time left on the clock to count us out early," Troutman said. "We did a good job of keeping focus."

The Panthers came back and cut it to 34-29 at halftime, thanks to some big 3-point baskets from Kendall, Benjamin and Ronald Ramon.

In the second half, Pitt took its first lead on two Benjamin free throws with 13:23 to go, a lead the Panthers would not relinquish. Krauser had three 3-pointers in the second half and made 8 of 8 free throws in the final 4:41.

"At halftime, we just told each other to stick together," Krauser said. "We came together and did well on the defensive end, tried to limit McNamara's shots and be physical with Warrick down low. It worked."

NOTES -- Pitt outrebounded Syracuse, 39-28. ... Pitt had 47 points in the second half. ... Sophomore guard Antonio Graves started but only played nine minutes and did not score. ... The Panthers play Providence at 9 p.m. tomorrow at the Petersen Events Center.