Rebounding Urgency Critical for Pitt Against Syracuse, Lampkin

In the first meeting of the season between Pitt and Syracuse, the Panthers edged out their rival on the road by four points despite getting out-classed on the glass.

Syracuse collected 48 rebounds, including 20 offensive boards, to Pitt’s overall 31. It comes as the worst rebounding performance for the Panthers in the ACC this season.

As for the forgettable outing on the glass for Pitt, much of it had to do with 6-11 Syracuse center Eddie Lampkin Jr., who corralled a career-high 23 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass.

“We have to be a lot better than we were the last time we played them,” Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said on Monday. “They dominated us on the glass. A big reason was Lampkin, he had 20 rebounds and a lot of offensive rebounds.”

FILM: Syracuse out-rebounded Pitt 48-31 today in Pitt's win. The Orange grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. Here they are.

Eddie Lampkin had eight of his own. pic.twitter.com/e0qQWiyLEZ

— George Michalowski (@MichalowskiCBB) January 25, 2025

On Tuesday evening, Cameron Corhen, Guillermo Diaz Graham and additional help will have the task of dealing with Lampkin as the Panthers look to limit his production.

“We have to block him out. We have to do it with a couple of guys. He dominated the glass against us and dominated the game for an offensive rebounding perspective, so we have to do a better job with that,” Capel said.

Lampkin, a grad senior with previous stops at Colorado and TCU, added 10 points against the Panthers to complement his rebounding masterclass. On the season, he has recorded 11 double-doubles and is third in the conference with 9.5 rebounds per game.

In the past two weeks, Lampkin is playing some of the best basketball of his career, registering three-straight double-doubles with a career-high 26 points and 11 rebounds against North Carolina and 22 points and 13 boards against Miami. Before that, it was 14 points and 18 rebounds against Boston College.

“I’ve been really impressed with how Lampkin moves for a guy that’s that big,” Capel said. “He’s got great feet, great instincts. When I watch him on film and when we played them, I was really impressed with his spirit to play. He seems like a really good teammate in the moment for those 40 minutes that he’s out there. He’s really engaged in the game. He’s not a pig where he’s just trying to shoot it every time he touches it. He’s a really good passer and a really good competitor.”

Lampkin’s dominance on the glass against Pitt was part of a stretch in which Pitt lost the rebounding battle in seven out of eight games that correlated with six losses.

Pitt’s effort in that department has steadied more recently. Despite falling to North Carolina just over a week ago on the road, Pitt edged out the Tar Heels on the glass. In the Panthers’ much-needed victory over Miami, they won the battle 40-33.

Capel is maintaining a fundamental, but critical approach when it comes to Pitt’s rebounding efforts.

“We have to be able not just to put a body, but we have to pursue the basketball. We have to be quicker to 50-50 balls. If the ball’s in the air, we have to jump to get it. We can’t just stand and think the ball’s going to fall in our hands. We have to pursue it with more urgency,” Capel said.

Pitt tips off against Syracuse at 7 p.m. Tuesday from the Petersen Events Center looking to string together two wins in a row.