Lamar Patterson of Pitt, right, tries to control the ball as Syracuse's C.J. Fair, second from right, Rick Jackson, center, and James Southerland (43) watch along the baseline with the Panthers' Dante Taylor (11) Monday as No. 5 Pitt beat the No. 3 Orange 74-66.

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon almost couldn’t believe it as the Panthers built their lead — 5-0, 11-0, 13-0 and finally to 19-0. The larger the lead got, the more he fretted.

This wasn’t Illinois-Chicago or North Florida, teams that Pitt wiped out by big margins in November. This was No. 3 Syracuse in mid-January, and he knew it couldn’t last. And it didn’t.

Pittsburgh lost its huge early lead, then came back behind Nasir Robinson’s 21 points to hand the Orange their first loss Monday night, winning 74-66 in a game of remarkable runs.

“It was a strange game,” Dixon said

While the start was remarkable, the finish wasn’t — Pitt’s eighth victory in nine games against Syracuse, which played without leading scorer Kris Joseph after he received a concussion Saturday against Cincinnati.

Brad Wanamaker added 15 points to help the fifth-ranked Panthers (18-1) improve to 6-0 in the Big East for the first time and halt a long Syracuse winning streak for the second successive season.

The Orange (18-1, 5-1) couldn’t match the 1999-2000 team’s school record by winning their first 19 games. Syracuse won its first 13 last season, only to lose to Pitt 82-72 at the Carrier Dome.

C.J. Fair had 16 points and nine rebounds while Scoop Jardine added 12 points for Syracuse, which answered Pitt’s big start with a 17-0 run that helped tie the score at 41 with 13:46 remaining. But Pitt scored nine of the next 12 points as Wanamaker hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws.

“We got off to a horrible start and Pitt got off to a great start,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We had a long way to come from back from the beginning. ... That’s as good a Pitt team as I’ve seen. That’s probably the best team we’ve played.“

Syracuse appeared to have a chance to make a final push after Dixon drew a rare technical foul and Dion Waiters made the two free throws, cutting it to 57-53. But Pitt scored the next eight points, and Syracuse never got closer than five points after that.

Pitt is 9-0 in the Petersen Events Center against Top 5 clubs.