The dejected, de-jacketed Boeheim marched a few feet up on the sideline in his white dress shirt and pleaded for his team to play bigger on defense, particularly against Pittsburgh’s Parker Stewart.

Syracuse (13-6, 2-4 Atlantic Coast), to the relief of its coach, overcame the freshman guard’s career-high 23 points on seven 3-pointers with a run late in the second half that stamped out pesky Pittsburgh (8-11, 0-6) and delivered a 59-45 escape on Tuesday night.

The push, fueled by guards Tyus Battle and Frank Howard, helped Boeheim side-step the first five-game Losing Streak of his career and finally create the distance Syracuse was never able to generate as well as predicted.

Pitt’s pressure came on the glass, where the Panthers garnered extra chances to catch up to a Syracuse offense that tried and failed for 30 minutes to build a lead greater than seven points.

Ball movement and extra spacing generated those looks, the same factors freshman Oshae Brissett credited with stirring life in Syracuse’s stagnant offense on Jan. 9 in its loss to Virginia when the Orange scored 61 points on the nation’s top-ranked defense.