SYRACUSE - For the record, 30,303 witnessed Saturday's classic men's college basketball game between Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

Years from now, many more in Central New York will claim they saw one of the greatest games in the Carrier Dome's illustrious history.

Jeremy McNeil scored on a put-back with 3.4 seconds left and the Orangemen had to sweat a near buzzer-beater by Brandin Knight as they beat the Panthers, 67-65, and denied the nation's second-ranked team a chance to claim the top spot.

Syracuse overcame a 13-point second-half deficit in dealing Pitt its second loss of the season. The Panthers still lead the Big East's West Division at 5-1 (15-2 overall).

The 24th-ranked Orangemen (14-3; 5-2) rebounded from Wednesday's disappointing loss at Rutgers to pull off their biggest win of the season.

"To see 30,000 fans, we couldn't send them home unhappy," said Kueth Duany, who came up big on defense. "We wish everyone comes again Monday night when we play Georgetown."

McNeil, the 6-foot-8 junior, was the hero, converting the game-tying free throws with 46.9 seconds left that made it 65-65.

"I said, 'Man, please don't miss,'" said McNeil, who came into the game 4-of-14 from the line for the season.

"Those were big throws, I'm not sure how many guys could make those two," said SU coach Jim Boeheim. "If I had to say what was going to happen, he doesn't make them in practice. We shoot 1-and-1s in practice and he's never made one."

The Panthers couldn't get off a shot on their possession, and Duany stripped the ball away from Jaron Brown, with Carmelo Anthony coming up with the loose ball. The Orangemen called timeout with 10.4 seconds left.

Gerry McNamara drove inside with Knight on him. He put up a shot that missed, but McNeil was in perfect position to grab the rebound and slam home the game-winner with 3.4 seconds left.

"He (Boeheim) said, 'Get it and go down the middle and put it on the rim,'" McNamara said. "I'm happy for Jeremy."

Pitt inbounded, but Carl Krauser fumbled the ball and called timeout as the buzzer sounded. The fans stormed the court but the referees, after looking at a replay, said there were 8/10ths of a second left.

After clearing the court, Brown inbounded the ball to Knight, who was 30 feet away from the basket. Knight let fly and put in what could have been an incredible game-winning 3-pointer. But again, after going to the replay with fans on the court, officials said the shot came after the clock read 0.0.

Now Syracuse fans could celebrate, as they stormed the court a third time.

"We don't win this game without the fans," McNamara said. "That's the truth, they were amazing. Every step we were down, they picked us up."

It was a weird game, as Syracuse had to scrap its famed 2-3 zone and use man-to-man defense to rally.

With 16:52 left, the Orange trailed 49-36. Duany then scored to start a 9-0 run over the next five minutes that got them back in it. But defense was the key, as the man-to-man worked. Pitt scored 17 field goals in the (55 percent) first half - just seven (29 percent) in the second.

"We haven't played a lot of man-to-man," Boeheim said, "but I have to give a lot of credit to our players, especially Duany."

Once SU got close, they couldn't get the score to tie it or take the lead. But McNamara, who had been 0-for-4 from 3-point range, shook off his defender and nailed one that got the Orange within one at 56-55 with 6:38 left. It was the closest it had been since midway through the first half.

"I've tried all year when we got down, to try to give us a little boost," McNamara said. "I had the rhythm, I was bouncing. He laid off of me, so I pulled it."

The 3-pointer sent the crowd into frenzy with the majority of the 30,000 rising to their feet with a huge din that was nearly deafening.

"The fans were unbelievable," Boeheim said. "It would have been heartbreaking to have lost this game."

And it soon was going to get better. Anthony went out with 11:43 left with his fourth foul and didn't return until 6:07 remained.

It didn't take long to make his presence felt, as he made the free throws with 5:56 left that gave SU its first lead of the second half.

The Panthers hung in, but Hakim Warrick, who led all scorers with 20 points, made two straight baskets that put the Orange up 61-60. Knight scored on a drive to give the Panthers back the lead at 62-61. After Anthony had a basket called back for traveling, Jaron Brown made a three to put the Panthers up by four at 65-61.

With 1:25 left, Duany missed a three, but McNeil got the rebound and passed back to him for a score that got SU within two.

On the next Pitt possession, Donatas Zavackas tried a three but missed, and McNeil was fouled on the rebound, setting up the dramatic final 50 seconds.

Anthony finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Duany added 15.

Syracuse played Pitt even for the first 10 minutes as Anthony scored nine of Syracuse's first 18 points.

Pitt pulled away at the midway point of the first half, using a 13-0 run over five minutes. Chevon Troutman scored seven of the points, as the Panthers took a 35-22 advantage with 5:28 remaining.

The Orangemen were horrendous from the line in the first half, 7-of-15. Syracuse's famed 2-3 zone defense was so porous Pitt was shooting 59 percent from the field before Boeheim decided to change to man-to-man for the final two minutes.

Nine first-half turnovers didn't help the Orangemen either.

A full-court press slowed Pitt down a bit but they still led 43-31 at the half.