Pitt just dropped its second game in as many tries following a 77-69 setback to No. 24 Duke on Wednesday night. The Panthers had built an early 12-point lead in the second half, but an extended 19-2 run for Duke that lasted over 8 minutes reversed the fortunes of the game. Following the defeat, Pitt is now 11-6 on the year and 4-2 in ACC play and will return to action on Saturday on the road at Georgia Tech.
Here are three things that stood out the most from Pitt’s game with Duke.
The ‘Big run’ caught up with them…
Pitt was not able to withstand the patented Duke second half run inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. There have been times this season where someone on this Pitt team would come up with a big shot or a three-point play to stop the bleeding and quiet the crowd, but it just wasn’t there against the Blue Devils. The Panthers looked good at halftime, but once momentum swung in Duke’s direction, they had a hard time recovering.
Pitt simply did not have an answer and the 19-2 run by the Blue Devils ultimately that stretch of the game did the Panthers in on Wednesday. There were reasons on both sides of the ball as to why that occurred. For nearly an 11 minute stretch of the second half, Pitt shot 1-of-12 during Duke’s push. The Panthers’ backcourt struggled to find driving lanes, which led to poor or rushed attempts at the end of the shot clock.
On the other side of the ball, Pitt just did not have much of an answer for Duke’s big man Kyle Filipowkski. Duke coach Jon Scheyer knew he had the advantage in the post, and the freshman toasted Pitt for 28 points and 15 rebounds. He scored 16 points after halftime, and Duke as a team scored 24 points in the paint in the second half. The Blue Devils made it a point to run their offense from the inside out, and it proved to be very effective.
For those that follow Pitt basketball closely, this sort of thing has happened through the years. Pitt has had lengthy scoring droughts that have led to winnable games going in the wrong direction. For the most part, Pitt has done a good job of avoiding these, or at least having answers in the second half. This is the second game in a row where scoring got tough down the stretch, and it’s hard not to see some concerns in that.
Usually this season when the going has gotten tough on the road, Pitt’s answer has been Jamarius Burton all season. He had a hard time getting it going in the second half, which did not help matters. After scoring 9 in the first half, he was held to 7 points on 3-of-11 shooting in the second. Pitt’s offense in recent games has been running through Burton, and he has delivered, but this game showed they need to find scoring from some other areas.
Manhandled inside
Pitt was just dominated inside tonight. Duke’s front line of Kyle Filipowski, Derek Lively, and Ryan Young really caused problems for Pitt in a multitude of ways. The Blue Devils just owned the glass against the Panthers. Duke out-rebounded Pitt 51-28 and the grabbed 24 offensive rebounds for the game.
The 24 offensive boards led to 19 second chance points for Duke. Given that the Blue Devils struggled shooting the ball in the early going, giving them second chances ended up being a deciding factor.
Although the domination inside wasn’t all about rebounding. Filipowski dominated on offense scoring the ball. Young made some hustle plays, while when he was not fouling Lively’s length posed issues to Pitt on offense. Pitt’s guards had very little room to operate with the length Duke had on defense.
Pitt’s big men were just not effective on Wednesday either and did little to stop the bleeding, while also being plagued with foul trouble. Federiko Federiko finished with 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 fouls. He was limited to only 23 minutes, and in the later stages of the game the Panthers opted to play small anyway and left him on the bench. True freshman Gullermo Diaz Graham provided valuable minutes in the first half, but he fouled out with only 2 points and 2 rebounds.
Pitt's offense does not really have much of a post presence. They score on easy dump passes and offensive rebounds. Federiko needs to be more effective rebounding, and for this Pitt team, it has to be a group effort, and they were crushed all night long there.
Pitt big man John Hugley has not played in nearly a month and he was also not available on Wednesday either. Hugley has been with the team during his absence, but did not travel to Durham for what Pitt called a ‘non-COVID illness.’ He has now missed six straight games, and Pitt has kept it close to the vest as to why he’s not playing. It remains unclear when or if he will be back this season, but they need more help inside and this game was pretty evident of that.
A more forgiving road ahead
Pitt just went through a difficult four-game stretch with North Carolina, Virginia, Clemson, and Duke. Now that the dust has settled, the Panthers went 2-2 over the course of those games. On the surface, that’s not a bad run, but given that they lost two second half leads in a row, it certainly stings a bit.
I think the way Pitt basketball has played out over the last six seasons, there is guarded optimism. I say guarded carefully, because there does feel like there is a sense of the bottom dropping out…again.
Pitt’s 11-6 start to the season is impressive relative to the team’s preseason expectations, but this program has had some impressive early January wins before, only to see a swoon to follow them shortly thereafter. I think there is a sense that this team is different, because of the senior leadership and the close games they have won. But until you see the team actually bounce back, you naturally revert back to thinking of some recent seasons where they have not.
We will see what the next set of games brings for this team, but it it is a bit more forgiving. The Panthers travel to Georgia Tech on Saturday, and will have games against Louisville and Florida State next week. Those three teams have a combined 15-33 record on the season.
Pitt had a respectable showing against some of the best teams in the league over the last couple of weeks, but if Pitt wants to break into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2016, the next set of games will say a lot about this team. Good teams trade wins, but they also take care of business. The Panthers need to stack some wins and the next three opponents are the types of teams they need to beat.
