Duke came to the Petersen Events Center on Tuesday night as the No. 2 team in the country with arguably the No. 1 player in the country.
By the time the final horn sounded, both of those assessments seemed to be accurate, as the Blue Devils, with 25 points from standout freshman Zion Williamson, handed the Panthers a 79-64 loss.
Pitt’s young roster wasn’t able to overcome serious mismatches in size and a considerable talent difference - not to mention some atypical zone defense from Duke - but the Panthers battled valiantly. Despite a deficit that hovered around 20 points for the entire second half, they didn’t wilt under the circumstances.
Instead, the team that has fought through a number of challenging losses this season without losing its spirit did so again in front of a capacity crowd that included rapper Jay-Z. Freshman Trey McGowens led Pitt’s charge in the second half, scoring 10 of his 14 points after halftime before fouling out with three minutes left.
And even in the 90 seconds, with a 79-60 score, Pitt was still fighting as AuDiese Toney went to the floor in a tie-up with a Duke player to force a held ball.
It wasn’t all moral victories, either. For roughly seven minutes at the start of the game, the Panthers looked like they belonged on the court with the Blue Devils. There was a three-point basket by Jared Wilson-Frame that tied the score at 11-all; then the senior hit another deep shot to put Pitt ahead 16-15 with 13 minutes left in the first half.
But Duke’s advantages ultimately had the impact they were expected to have. With Williamson adding a three-pointer to his easy pickings around the rim, the Blue Devils pounded out a 12-0 run to eliminate that 16-15 Pitt lead - a scoring advantage that would prove to be the Panthers’ last of the night.
By halftime, Duke’s freshman sensation already had 19 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting line to power a 44-25 lead in the locker room. And just in case there was any doubt, Williamson scored his first points of the second half by turning a steal into a monster breakaway dunk.
Williamson wasn’t Duke’s only freshman to have success on Tuesday. Fellow frosh RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish also reached double figures, with Barrett scoring 26 and Redding adding 15. But Barrett needed 24 shots to score those game-high 26 and Redding attempted 16.
Williamson was 11-of-13 from the floor on the night. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out seven assists.
In addition to McGowens scoring 14, Pitt got double-digit production from Terrell Brown, who scored 12, and Wilson-Frame, who had 12. Freshman Xavier Johnson saw his double-figure scoring streak end at 18 games with eight points against Duke; he had put up at least 10 in every game this season prior to Tuesday night.
The loss dropped Pitt’s record to 12-7 overall and 2-4 in the ACC. The Panthers have now lost two in a row after falling at Syracuse last Saturday; they’ll be back in action on Saturday when they go to Louisville for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
