NEW YORK — A poor opening half kept Pittsburgh from having a chance at a last long run in the Big East tournament.

The 17th-ranked Panthers fell behind by 13 points at halftime and even a tough run near the end of the game wasn’t enough to avoid a 62-59 loss to No. 19 Syracuse on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

The fourth-seeded Panthers used a 10-3 run to get within 58-57 with 30 seconds left but Syracuse guard Michael Carter-Williams didn’t miss from the free throw line to keep the fifth-seeded Orange in front to the end.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed in the loss, but I’m proud of how our guys fought back in the second half,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. “We obviously dug a hole for ourselves in the first half, but I could see how hard we played and the effort.

“Simply put, the first half we didn’t play our defense. That dug the hole for us. That’s why we were where we’re at and why we weren’t able to make up the 13-point deficit.”

James Southerland and Carter-Williams kept Syracuse’s run at one more title going at Madison Square Garden.

Both schools are leaving for the Atlantic Coast Conference next season. They didn’t disappoint the sellout crowd, providing one last great game before they head south.

“We know that this means a lot to us, as a basketball team and as a program,” Syracuse’s Brandon Triche said. “This can very much jump start us to the (NCAA) tournament. So we know how important this Big East tournament is.”

The fifth-seeded Orange (25-8) advanced to the semifinals against top-seeded Georgetown, which is one of the seven Catholic schools that have left their football counterparts behind in an attempt to have a basketball-centric conference.

“The doubleheader that’s going to be here tomorrow night will be a great basketball night, I think,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “It’s a great way for this league to go out. We got to the semis in this tournament a lot, I think over 20 times, and it’s great to be able to do that because it means you played pretty good, and that’s what we’re trying to do, play good and get ready for, unfortunately, the only thing that matters, next week.”

This will be the 14th time the schools have met in the Big East tournament and the Hoyas hold the series lead at 7-6.

Southerland had a second straight great effort from 3-point range and Carter-Williams scored Syracuse’s last seven points against Pittsburgh in a game in which the final 1:15 was a great way for the programs to play one last time in the Big East.

“We were prepared to come into this tournament and win,” Pittsburgh’s Tray Woodall said. “I was disappointed, but I guess now we’ve got to focus on the NCAA tournament. As you saw in the second half, we played our style of basketball, as Coach said. ... We’ll dwell on it for a few hours tonight, and then we have to move on.”