Pitt is officially on a losing streak. The Panthers fell 82-70 to Florida State on Wednesday evening at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee. The loss drops Pitt’s record to 12-5 on the year and the Panthers are now just 3-3 in ACC play.

The Panthers were out of sorts from the start offensively, and they never worked their way out of it either. Pitt shot 37.5% from the field for the game. Florida State dragged the game into the mud, as the Seminoles used a stingy defensive effort to keep the Panthers frustrated for basically the entire 40 minutes.

Aside from the poor shooting, Pitt was credited with 17 turnovers, including eight from point guard Jaland Lowe. Florida State used an aggressive defensive approach on the Panthers’ point guard, which took him off his game, and also stunted the Panthers’ whole offensive approach. Lowe finished with 22 points himself, but most came in the second half as Pitt appeared to be in scramble, comeback mode.

Pitt trailed for the final 27:44 in this game. At times in the second half, Florida State stretched the lead to as many as 16 points. The Panthers made a comeback effort of sorts, but each time Pitt got close, the defense failed to string together multiple stops. Florida State made a living at the foul line in the second half. The ‘Noles were 20-of-24 from the charity stripe after halftime, which kept Pitt far enough from ever taking the lead.

The Seminoles improved to 12-5 on the year with the win, and were led by 28 points from senior Jamir Watkins, who has been one of the best scorers in the ACC this season.

Pitt’s late second half push was largely fueled by seldom-used reserve Jorge Diaz Graham, who finished with a career-high 17 points, including four big three-pointers. Unfortunately for the Panthers, nobody else really followed his lead.

Rotating rotations

The lineups Pitt has employed this season have been the center of attention of late, and chalk Wednesday up as another night where the rotations were a bit peculiar. It started with Damian Dunn being inserted into the starting lineup in place of Guillermo Diaz Graham.

Dunn played 31 minutes, but finished with only two points on 0-8 shooting.

Pitt used Guillermo Diaz Graham briefly, and Brandin Cummings had some playing time as well, although most of it came in the first half. Out of necessity, Pitt used Papa Amadou Kante and Jorge Diaz Graham due to foul trouble, and both provided positive contributions and it led to them receiving some extended runs in the second half. In Pitt’s last game against Louisville, head coach Jeff Capel maintained the same lineup for the final 17 minutes. The Panthers had to use a few more pieces tonight, and it turned out to a good thing. Perhaps, the bench’s role for this team will increase heading into the next game.

Jorge’s night

It’s hard to find a positive in a 10-point ACC loss, but Jorge Diaz Graham does deserve some credit for his efforts. He’s been overshadowed by his brother’s bigger role since they arrived. Plus, he missed most of last season with an injury. He has never found his place in the rotation, but a 4-of-5 night from three-point range should help his cause moving forward. Jorge is now shooting an astonishing 62% from deep this season. He also provided some good hustle and energy plays on Wednesday, and did what a good bench player is supposed to do, which is to bring life to the floor. If anything, he showed he needs more minutes.

Freebies

In Pitt’s two most recent losses prior to Wednesday, rebounding has been the team’s biggest issue. Although against Florida State, an unexpected lapse came in the form of turnovers. Pitt had 17 of them for the game, but the 14 in the first half absolutely killed them. The ‘Noles only led Pitt by five points at halftime, which means even a slightly more efficient first half could have changed the scope of the game, which makes this loss that much more excruciating for the Panthers.

Florida State played well defensively. Leonard Hamilton crafted a good game plan, and freshman guard Daquan Davis was in Lowe’s grill the entire night, making life difficult on him, leading to many of those free possessions for the home team.

Unpleasant homecoming

Pitt junior center Cam Corhen spent his first two seasons at Florida State. In the offseason, Corhen came to Pitt looking for a better suited role. Obviously, any player going up against a former team will be looking to show off a bit, but Corhen did not get that chance. He was held scoreless, with two turnovers, and was 0-4 from the field. Corhen did record nine rebounds, but the 6’10” big man was also responsible for some second chances for Florida State just the same.

Reality check

Everything about the Pitt basketball season was moving along just fine until recently. The loss to No. 4 Duke last week was at least explainable, with the Blue Devils being a juggernaut, especially at home. Even the four-point defeat to Louisville was not a killer on the resume, with the Cardinals surging of late.

Wednesday was bad, and there is little defending this loss for the Panthers.

Florida State does not exactly come across as an NCAA Tournament contending team, and the ‘Noles have a roster with several holes. Despite that, they really took it to Pitt and looked to have the urgency as a team necessary to win. Pitt should have had that same energy considering what happened over the weekend, but seemed to come out flat, as the Panthers only made six shots in the first half. Nothing about their approach looked to be up to par as a team that was expected to compete towards the top of the ACC.

Up Next

Pitt will be back in action on Saturday with a noon tip against Clemson. The Tigers have won five of their last six and will bring a 14-4 record into the Petersen Events Center this weekend.