GREENSBORO, N.C. — Pitt lost to Duke 96-69 on March 8th in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament inside the Greensboro Coliseum. It was the highest point total the Panthers had allowed all season, but it was also a low point for this team's magical and unexpected season.

The loss to Duke created doubt for Pitt’s NCAA Tournament hopes and that lopsided nature of the defeat may have had a hand in the team dropping all the way as an 11-seed, which sent them playing in the First Four in Dayton on Tuesday.

Eight days later, in the same building where they allowed 96 points to Duke, the Panthers secured an NCAA Tournament victory over sixth-seeded Iowa State by a score of 59-41. The number 41 was the lowest point total Pitt allowed all year.

Eight days and a world of difference.

In fairness, nobody is mistaking Iowa State for Duke in terms of offensive skill, but holding a team to 41 points is no small feat, especially in the NCAA Tournament. Not to mention for a Pitt team that really hasn’t played well defensively in a month, it has been quite a change of fortunes.

“What an unbelievable defensive performance,” Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said after his second NCAA Tournament victory guiding the Panthers. “I said out there and I said to these guys in the locker room, we were a really good defensive team for the majority of the year except for the last month of the season, and we've really dialed back in these past two games and played at an elite level.”

The Panthers held Mississippi State to 59 points on Tuesday night in Dayton. In two NCAA Tournament games they’ve given up 100 points total, after allowing 96 to Duke a little over a week ago. It’s been quite a turnaround, but a necessary one in order to have the success it has had in March.

“I think Coach has been on us recently about defending,” Pitt guard Nelly Cummings said after scoring a team-high 13 points. “We had a few games where we wasn't really as locked in as we should have been. When our Coach gets on us like that, he is going to make the effort for us to really go harder in that aspect of the game, and we knew we needed to do that to win today.”

Pitt was pretty stingy on the defensive end from the start on Friday. The Panthers’ freshman center Guillermo Diaz Graham certainly bothered the Cyclones with his length, and Iowa State just never looked comfortable on offense from the opening stages on Friday.

Diaz Graham, making only his second career start, had three blocks and eight rebounds to go along with nine points.

Iowa State opened each half on horrendous shooting streaks, the first of which allowed for Pitt to break open a 22-2 advantage to start the game. The Cyclones missed their first 11 field goal attempts and did not record a made basket until 9:55 to go in the first half.

“We got off to an unbelievable start,” said Capel. “We withstood a run from them. We came back from halftime and got organized, got our offense organized again, and we did a really good job of attacking them, but the main thing the whole time was our defense.”

There were tense moments, however.

Iowa State battled back from that initial 22-2 spurt by Pitt, and closed the gap to within 30-23 at halftime. The Cyclones, known for their defense, did a nice job of making life difficult on Pitt all afternoon as well, but just as their run seemed to get going, it ended.

Iowa State only made five field goals in the second half, two of which came in the final minutes, well after Pitt had the game in hand. The Cyclones shot 1-of-15 coming out of halftime, while Pitt built a double-digit advantage with 15 minutes left, a barrier Iowa State was unable to cross the remainder of the game.

Eventually, on the strength of a late 10-0 run, the Panthers held a 50-30 lead with 4:47 remaining.

Pitt did not want to leave anything to chance on Friday on the defensive end. A lack of defense cost Pitt a game against Notre Dame on March 1st, when an 11-win Fighting Irish team knocked off Pitt 88-81. That loss to Notre Dame ultimately dropped Pitt out of contention for an ACC Championship.

“We knew the last of the season we had a chance to do something big, but we didn't because of our defense,” senior guard Greg Elliott said of missing out on an ACC title. “Everybody wanted to say it, but we knew. Our defense wasn't up to par. We knew if we wanted win games in March, we had won some early, but if you want to win, you have to play defense and rebound. That's what we've been doing.”

In addition to Pitt’s efforts on defense, they cleaned up well on the glass as well. Of course Iowa State clanking many shots provided plenty of opportunities for boards, but Pitt out-rebounded the Cyclones 39-37, which has been a rarity for this team of late.

There were times over the last month it looked rough on defensive end for Pitt, but there was an internal belief they would figure it out, and only allowing 50 points a game in two tournament contests is pretty hard evidence.

“I never wavered in my belief in them,” Capel said of his team’s defensive turnaround. “I don't think they ever wavered in their belief in each other and themselves. The main thing is that we didn't panic. You know, we got home. We got away from each other, from the game for a couple of days. When we got back together on Sunday, I think everyone was refreshed.”