PITTSBURGH — Strong rebounding and consistent shooting are enviable qualities in the Top 25-loaded Big East Conference.

So is a bad memory.

Pitt turned all three — especially the forget-about-it approach — into an impressive 78-60 victory over No. 8 Syracuse Monday that came only two nights after the Panthers' first loss since the NCAA tournament last season.

In that 69-63 defeat to now-No. 9 Louisville Saturday, the Panthers gave up a 10-point lead while missing 15 of 16 shots down the stretch — and they gave up the first No. 1 ranking in school history. They also were outrebounded, a rarity given how 6-foot-7 DeJuan Blair normally controls the inside.

Blair did exactly that against the Orange, scoring 20 points and getting 12 rebounds as No. 4 Pitt (17-1, 5-1 in Big East) held a 40-28 advantage on the boards. Much like another team in town, Pitt turned to its rugged defense and physicality to pull away from Syracuse, which was coming off a 93-74 rout of No. 19 Notre Dame.

The key for Pitt?

"As soon as we got on the airplane, we forgot about it," Blair said of the Louisville game. "Sometimes you're going to come up short."

Sam Young, Pitt's leading scorer with an 18.7 average, proved that by making only 15 of 49 shots in his previous three games. He started off slowly against the Orange, missing three of four shots while scoring only 3 points in the first half, but wound up 7-of-12 and finished with 22 points.

The key for Young? According to coach Jamie Dixon, it was forgetting the misses.

"I told the guys it's tough to lose, but when you lose, learn from it — that can be very valuable," Dixon said. "We definitely did. We really focused on some things and got them done."

The Panthers held Syracuse to 41.8 percent shooting (23-of-55), with leading scorer Jonny Flynn making only three of 14 shots. He scored 28 last season during a Pitt comeback win at Syracuse.

"To come out and do what we did tonight speaks volumes about what we did on the defensive end, the rebounding and executing offensively," Dixon said.

The way Flynn shot, it was no surprise the Orange (17-3, 5-2) were nearly 22 points off their scoring average.

"If he goes 3-for-14, it's going to be tough for them to win," said Pitt point guard Levance Fields, who had 15 points and 5 assists.

Andy Rautins hit five 3-pointers while scoring 17, but only Flynn joined him in double figures for Syracuse.

And, after losing like this, coach Jim Boeheim said the best thing for Syracuse to do is ... well, forget about it.

"When you don't play well offensively, this is what's going to happen in this league," Boeheim said. "But I told the players, we're 17-3 and 5-2, and that's better than we're supposed to be. It's frustrating when you lose, but you have to understand where you are."

Especially given the quality of competition in the Big East, which has eight teams among the nation's top 20.

"The big thing in this league is not turning one (loss) into two," Fields said.

Pitt now is 2-1 against ranked opponents, with its other win against No. 12 Georgetown. Pitt has won its last three at home and six of eight overall against Syracuse, which five years ago became the first visiting team to win at the Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers' defense drew a lot of cheers from a crowd that looked to be bigger than the announced 12,508 — and so did the three Steelers players who were spotted: Ben Roethlisberger, Santonio Holmes and Jeff Reed.

Proving that some players do wear those giveaway shirts handed out in the locker room after every title-clinching victory, Reed proudly pointed to his AFC championship shirt when his image was flashed on the arena video board.