Pitt dropped a tough ACC battle to Louisville, 82-78, at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers held a narrow 73-72 advantage with three minutes left, following a Zack Austin three-pointer, but Louisville outscored Pitt 10-5 down the stretch thanks to eight important points from senior guard Reyne Smith in the closing minutes, as the Panthers had no answer for the sharpshooting guard or the rest of the Louisville offense late in the game.
In fact, Pitt had very few stretches of play with good defense in this one.
Louisville controlled the glass with a 44-31 edge in rebounding, and finished with 22 second chance points for the game. When it got tight, the Cardinals did not really miss either, as Louisville made nine of its final 11 field goal attempts.
The Panthers trailed Louisville by one at halftime, but came out in the second half a bit more engaged offensively. Jaland Lowe scored 15 of his team-high 24 points after halftime, and torched Louisville by getting to the foul line, where he went 13-of-13.
Pitt managed to build a 52-47 advantage around the 12-minute mark, but the rest of the game was played in a tight window, with 10 lead changes happening throughout the contest and neither team taking a lead larger than five points after that.
The game was tied at 75-all with 2:22 remaining following a pair of Leggett free throws, but the Panthers ability to defend and rebound remained suspect, with Cardinals receiving clutch baskets from Smith, as well as a dagger from Chucky Hepburn with :8 seconds left to set the final.
Damian Dunn was playing in his second game after returning from a thumb injury, and provided 15 points, while fellow senior guard Ish Leggett chipped in with 16 himself to follow behind Lowe.
No changes
Pitt started the second half with its usual starting five, but after Guillermo Diaz Graham picked up his third foul with over 17 minutes remaining. Jeff Capel inserted Damian Dunn back into the lineup, and that was pretty much it. Pitt rolled with the same five for the remainder of the game, and Louisville’s offense picked up down the stretch at the same time.
The Panthers are largely going to rely on their main players to be successful this season, but in a 40-minute game, especially one where they were struggling so much defensively, it may have been worthwhile to break up the game for some players. After registering 38 minutes against Duke on Tuesday, Cam Corhen played 36 against Louisville. In the second half, the Panthers' center was held scoreless and only grabbed three rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
Getting stops
Between allowing 17 offensive rebounds, 22 second chance points, and 51% shooting in the second half, it’s hard to pick which defensive breakdown was the most critical to Pitt’s loss on Saturday.
It is the totality of the situation, however.
Pitt’s rebounding was abysmal on Saturday, and it created so many extended possessions for Louisville. The Cardinals could not hit the broad side of a barn in the first half from three-point range (4/19), but at the same time, they survived with offensive rebounds. After halftime, especially in the game’s final seven minutes, Louisville started hitting shots, while maintaining its edge in rebounding, which proved to be a perfect storm for the Cardinals.
Pitt could not get the stop it needed to do so late in the game. With the Panthers trailing by a point, Louisville missed a contested shot with :37 seconds remaining. Almost fittingly, however, the Cardinals got the offensive board off the miss, which essentially ended Pitt’s chances.
Streaks snapped
Pitt won 15 games in a row in the Petersen Events Center prior to Saturday, and had won five in a row against Louisville as well. The Panthers lost both streaks on Saturday. Pitt’s first conference game with the students back on campus did not seemingly provide much of the home court advantage the team was probably expecting, as the crowd never seemed to bother the visitors.
The Panthers had dominated Louisville of late, but it’s clear Pat Kelsey is a really good coach who should have the program rolling soon enough. Following the win, Louisville is now a comfortable 12-5, 5-1 in the ACC, and has now won six consecutive games. The (brief) days of Louisville being a pushover are seemingly over, as the Cardinals look like a legitimate tournament team this season.
Dunn responds
Perhaps Pitt’s best player on Saturday was Damian Dunn. After missing some time with a thumb injury, he returned on Tuesday against Duke, with a minimal impact on the game. On Saturday, however, he kept the Panthers in it with some big time minutes.
Dunn finished with 15 points, and 13 of those coming after halftime. He hit a clutch 3-pointer late in the shot clock and seemed to stabilize the team on offense in many ways. Dunn had a team-high eight rebounds, and also recorded three assists. His +/- was +10 for the game, which led Pitt in that department.
Avoiding a slide
Pitt has now lost back to back games for the first time this season following Saturday’s setback. The loss to Duke was explainable in a sense, because the Blue Devils are a better team. Louisville appears like a good team as well, but that does not downplay this loss, however.
Pitt had plenty of chances to win the game. Even a slightly better rebounding performance, and we’re talking about how Pitt bounced back and won a big home game today. While it’s a discouraging defeat, again, Louisville is a good team, and not a loss that should clip the Panthers.
Pitt simply can’t let this little streak turn into a slide. Obviously, that’s not anything earth shattering, but we’ve seen this program have some swoons under Capel throughout his tenure, so it’s something to be mindful of heading into the final 15 games of the season.
Up next
Pitt will be in Tallahassee on Wednesday night for a late 9:00 p.m. tip against Florida State. The Seminoles are 11-4 as of Saturday afternoon and they lost to this Louisville team by 14 points back on December 21st.
Florida State is coached by veteran Leonard Hamilton, who has been in Tallahassee since 2002. It will also be a homecoming of sorts, as current Panther Cam Corhen will be back at Florida State, where he played for two seasons prior to transferring to Pitt.
