Pitt has made a habit this season of starting slow and coming back.

It happened in the Panthers’ wins over North Carolina and Virginia, and Saturday’s showdown with Clemson at the Petersen Events Center looked to be following the same path after the home team turned a 10-point deficit in the first half into a halftime lead and an eight-point advantage with 5:35 left to play.

But whereas Pitt’s offense had allowed the team to not just engineer but also finish comebacks in the wins over the Tar Heels and Cavaliers, the Panthers went cold on Saturday, as the Tigers overcame a deficit of their own to come back and win, handing Pitt a 75-74 loss.

The defeat was Pitt’s first in ACC play this season, dropping the Panthers to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in conference.

There was little concern on the home bench when Clemson went ahead 27-17 in the first half, and for good reason, as the Panthers came out of the media timeout at 6:48 with a pair of free throws from Jamarius Burton, followed promptly by a Blake Hinson three and a converted one-and-one from Nelly Cummings that cut the lead to three.

Clemson answered with a three of its own and a free throw to stretch the lead again, but Greg Elliott scored five consecutive points - a three-pointer and two free throws - to make it a two-point game.

A seven-point run led by two Cummings jump shots and a tough Burton drive put Pitt ahead by three, but Clemson never let the Panthers pull away, tying the score at 38-38 with two seconds left in the half. That wasn’t the final score after 20 minutes, though, as Nate Santos hit a buzzer-beating jump shot to give Pitt a two-point lead at halftime.

The battle continued into the second half, with the two teams playing to ties at four separate points before Pitt jumped out from a 59-59 dead heat to an eight-point run that gave the Panthers a 67-59 lead with 5:35 left in the game.

Unfortunately for the announced crowd of 10,403, it was all Clemson after that. The Tigers shot 6-of-9 from the floor in the final 5:35, while Pitt hit just 3-of-8. That was a continuation of the Panthers’ issues throughout the end of the second half, as they made just four field goals in the final 10 minutes.

Pitt still had a chance with a minute left after Burton hit a jump shot to tie the score at 71-71, but Clemson guard Chase Hunter, who had a team-high 17 for the Tigers, hit a jump shot of his own to take the lead back. The Panthers had the ball with less than 20 seconds to play, but Burton couldn’t connect on a layup and Cummings misfired an alley-oop attempt to center Federiko Federiko.

Burton finished with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting, while Hinson scored 14 before fouling out but went 3-of-7 at the free throw line) and Elliott scored 11. Pitt got extended minutes from freshman Guillermo Diaz Graham, whose 11:51 was the most time he has seen on the court since the season opener, and Nate Santos, who played 11:40, as the team dealt with foul trouble to Federiko and Hinson. Diaz Graham scored four points and grabbed five rebounds, while Santos scored two and had five rebounds of his own.

The Panthers will next take the court on Wednesday when they travel to Duke for a 7 pm tipoff.