The Pitt Panthers had a chance to clinch at least a share of an ACC Championship on Wednesday night, but came out with a subpar effort and lost to a bad Notre Dame team by a score of 88-81. The Panthers dropped to 21-9 on the year and face a daunting task on Saturday as they travel to face No. 16 Miami.
Here are three takeaways from Pitt’s loss to the Irish on Wednesday.
A deflating loss
All seemed right in the world of Pitt basketball for the past five days. The Panthers secured a memorable 99-82 win over Syracuse on Saturday in front of a sold-out senior day crowd. The win vaulted the Panthers to the top of the ACC standings, and they cracked the AP Top-25 on Monday for the first time since 2016.
All that feel good energy came to a screeching halt on Wednesday night with the setback to Notre Dame. Pitt’s last minute efforts to get the score close was certainly commendable, but the performance as a whole was lackluster, to say the least. Notre Dame beat them up and down the court for most of the game on both sides of the ball.
Pitt had everything to play for on Wednesday and all the team had to do was beat a Notre Dame team who had lost seven straight games, but the Panthers could not get it done. The Irish had not scored more than 64 points in any of their past four games, but had that number with 9 minutes to go in this one.
Mike Brey’s team simply carved up the Pitt defense throughout the game. The 11-0 run at the end of the first half spilled over into the second half. The Irish spaced the floor and had Pitt on their heels the whole game. Notre Dame leading scorer Nate Laszewski had a modest 14 points, but they didn’t need him to be dominant because they had everything else working.
Marcus Hammond and Cormac Ryan torched Pitt as they each posted 20 points. The Irish shot 49% from the field for the game, and went 26-of-31 from the foul line. Notre Dame is known for its three-point shooting, and they did convert 10 of those, but the 26 points in the paint killed the Panthers on Wednesday. Five different Notre Dame players reached double figures for a team that really only was comfortable playing six guys on Wednesday. They all had it working.
Pitt actually outscored Notre Dame 53-46 in the second half. At the end of the game, the offensive numbers actually weren’t all that bad for Jeff Capel’s team, except for one. Pitt shot shot 20-of-36 from the free throw line, which was the big outlier in this one. The Panthers were 38-for-42 in their two wins last week. Pitt has been a good foul shooting team all year, but for whatever reason it did not travel to South Bend.
Let the shooters shots
Blake Hinson attempted a school-record 17 three-pointers against Syracuse on Saturday. I am not sure letting Hinson having an all-time green light is Pitt’s best plan of attack moving forward, especially with his home/away splits, but he only attempted three shots in the second half in Wednesday night’s loss to Notre Dame.
Hinson was the only Pitt player that seemed engaged in the first half with 9 points and 7 rebounds. I think there needs to be room in the offense to get the best offensive weapon more than three shot attempts in a half in an important conference game in March.
Look, Pitt did score 53 in the second half and shot 55.6% while doing it. Nelly Cummings, Jamarius Burton, and Nike SIbande all had double digit scoring efforts after halftime, but Pitt was still down 19 points with five minutes to go in the game. I get the totals are what they are, but let’s not beat around the bush here. This game really only got close when the Panthers amped up the pressure, attacked the rim more, and played at a frantic pace down the stretch. It was the right move at the time, but again for the majority of the second half, Pitt’s offense was sputtering.
Aside from Hinson not proving to be much of a factor in the second half, Greg Elliott was virtually nonexistent for the entire game The senior finished with four points and missed both of his three-point attempts. I think there were obviously some defensive reasons that led to Sibande earning more minutes overall, but again Elliott needs to be able to take more than two three-pointers in 25 minutes.
Pitt’s offensive flow was off all game. They did not have an abundance of turnovers (8), but the Panthers only finished with eight assists on 27 made field goals. When Pitt’s offense is clicking, it’s because the ball is moving and they are setting up good shots for one another. Pitt shoots the three well as a team, but it is set up because the ball has life.
Notre Dame sort of chased Pitt off the three-point line, and it led to them being more of a downhill team, which hasn’t been their style for most of the season. Notre Dame is not a great defensive team, but they made Pitt uncomfortable. The ball was not moving like it was on Saturday and the shots were not falling because of it.
Pitt has been very impressive offensively this season. They need to hope this is a one-off type of game, because they won’t last long in the month of March with another effort like the one they had on Wednesday. Pitt was able to force itself back into the game against a bad Notre Dame team, but good teams won’t allow a 19-point lead to evaporate in March.
It all comes down to Miami
Speaking of good teams, Pitt has to face one on Saturday. A really good one at that. The Panthers will head to Florida to take on the 16th ranked Miami Hurricanes with ACC title implications on the line. Both teams will enter Saturday with 14-5 records, as will Virginia. Given that it is unlikely the Cavaliers are going to lose to Louisville on Saturday afternoon, Pitt and Miami are very likely playing for a share of the ACC title at 6:00 on Saturday night in Coral Gables.
The Panthers and Hurricanes played once this year with Pitt coming out on top in a 71-68 thriller. Pitt needed a late 11-0 run to overtake the Hurricanes back on January 28th. That loss prompted Miami to win seven straight games before being upset by Florida State on Saturday on a buzzer beater.
The Hurricanes will have had a week off ahead of Saturday’s game and should be fully rested for when Pitt comes to town, and will of course be looking for revenge from that first meeting. Miami has four players averaging double figures led by Isaiah Wong, one of the best and most experienced guards in the ACC.
Miami as a team presents plenty of challenges, but what is at stake for Pitt really makes this game even bigger. The fate for this Pitt team is really on two ends of the spectrum right now. If the Panthers can go into Miami on Saturday night and win, they will be ACC Champions and a no-doubt lock for the NCAA Tournament. If Pitt loses, than the Panthers will be on the bubble heading into the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
It is a unique case and one like we have probably never seen before. Generally a team that is able to clinch an ACC title on the final day of the regular season has been lock for the NCAA Tournament. In Pitt’s case, there are plenty of metrics and bracketologists who are saying Pitt is not quite there yet. The Panthers would likely need a win in Greensboro to solidify a spot should they lose to Miami.
No pressure, Pitt is either going to be the champions of the league on Saturday night or they will be heading to Greensboro with work to do.
