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Syracuse nearly pulled off a remarkable comeback in the final minutes of an ACC tournament game against Pitt on Wednesday afternoon, but the Orange fell short and are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. Syracuse trailed by 12 points with a little more than four minutes remaining but fought back to tie the game on a dunk by Michael Gbinije. But Pitt senior James Robinson made a steal and a dunk and a short jumper to secure a 72-71 win for the Panthers who are safely in the NCAA field next week regardless of how far they go this week. [ Yahoo Tourney Pick’em is open. Sign up now and play for $50K ] Syracuse fans will surely complain that Robinson got away with a blatant travel on his made jumper and video evidence is clear that he did, but the Orange also had a chance to win the game moments later and Trevor Cooney settled for a deep 3-point attempt when he didn't need one and certainly didn't need it from so far beyond the 3-point line. Cooney had come into the game moments before missing the game-winning attempt after spending much of the second half on the bench. Pitt is the first team in 29 years to earn a three-game sweep over Syracuse in a season. The Orange and coach Jim Boeheim are left to wait until Selection Sunday to learn their fate and they will certainly be rooting for favorites to win other conference tournaments the rest of the way because the bubble they're riding will shrink with each underdog that snatches and automatic bid. The Orange are just 19-13 and relying on their strength of schedule to persuade the selection committee that they deserve a spot in the field. [ Ticket punched: Green Bay starters lead way to Horizon League title ] If things go Syracuse's way, the Orange can still get into the NCAA field off the strength of wins against Texas A&M and on the road at Duke as well as playing in the rugged ACC. But the problem with the Orange resume is it doesn't go deeper beyond those simple highlights. The Orange have only five wins against the RPI top-50 and have the look of No. 10 or No. 11 seed if they are to get into the field. Syracuse has lost five of its final six games, including two games to Pitt and a loss to Florida State. Meanwhile, Pitt's chances of making the NCAA tournament were also in jeopardy prior to this win after losing three of its final regular season games and six of its final 10. While Robinson made the big plays down the stretch for the Panthers, freshman Cameron Johnson had the best day of his young career, scoring a season-best 24 points off the bench, making eight of 16 shots, including four 3-pointers. The Panthers move on to play North Carolina. Podcast: Jim Jackson on Big East, Ben Simmons, Golden State: Grandstanding: A Yahoo Sports podcast Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed - - - - - - - [ Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo Continue to Article

March 09, 2016 4:02:pm EST

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Coach Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse basketball community are rallying in support of Dwayne ''Pearl'' Washington, the former Orange star afflicted with brain cancer. Continue to Article

March 01, 2016 4:41:pm EST