Pitt falls short at the end vs. Minnesota

Pitt’s opportunities for wins this season will depend on several factors.

Defense is a big one. Protecting the ball is another. As is rebounding.

And in those situations where the Panthers have a favorable matchup they can exploit, they have to take advantage.

On Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center, fresh off a loss to UMBC and facing a Big Ten team, Pitt did every one of those things. The Panthers held the Gophers to 37.3% shooting, out-rebounded Minnesota 40-33 and only committed 12 turnovers.

But in the end, Pitt still wasn’t good enough, and the Panthers lost to the Gophers 54-53.

Pitt led 53-50 with 2:56 left to play but didn’t score again after a Femi Odukale free throw, while the Panthers gave up consecutive second-chance shots to Minnesota in the final 30 seconds.

The opening of the game wasn’t exactly a display of offense at the highest level. Neither team made a basket for nearly four minutes, with Minnesota finally breaking the ice on a layup three minutes and 56 seconds in.

Offense still didn’t flow after that; when the first half passed the 10-minute mark, both teams had combined for just 24 points. But after Minnesota pushed its lead to 17-11 and forced Jeff Capel to call a timeout, Pitt honed in on its best offensive weapon.

John Hugley.

Minnesota truly had no answer for Hugley. Will Jeffress got a steal and fast break dunk after the timeout, and then Hugley took over, hitting four baskets in the next seven minutes before draining a three at the buzzer to give Pitt a 24-22 lead at halftime.

At that point, Hugley had 15 points, and he only added to that total at the start of the second half, scoring five more to account for 16 consecutive Pitt points.

Jamarius Burton eventually broke Hugley’s streak with a basket of his own, but the sophomore center wasn’t done scoring. He would finish with 25 points, but as the halfway point of the final 20 minutes approached, he got some help.

After Minnesota went ahead 34-33 with just under 14 minutes to play, Jeffress hit a three to put the Panthers ahead, and that basket started a 9-0 run that included an impressive Onyebuchi Ezeakudo drive to the basket and a Femi Odukale bucket at the end of the shot clock to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game at 42-34 with 10:00 to play.

Minnesota bounced right back, though. After the Gophers called timeout, top scorer Jamison Battle hit back-to-back three’s and a tough jump shot to tie the game, and from there, the two teams traded blows.

Pitt took the lead back on an Odukale drive and Minnesota answered with a Sean Sutherlin layup to tie. Burton hit a jump shot for the lead and Minnesota’s Eylijah Stephens nailed a three to give the Gophers a 47-46 lead. Hugley made one free throw to tie and Battle made one free throw for the lead.

The Panthers went back ahead on a pair of free throws by Burton to make it 49-48 before Mo Gueye landed a baseline jumper to extend the lead to three points with less than four minutes on the clock.

Unfortunately for Pitt, Gueye’s shot was the Panthers’ final made basket of the game. They would add two more points on free throws by Odukale, but Burton missed two shots and Jeffress missed one in the final 2:16.

Hugley finished the game with his third double-double of the season, adding 14 rebounds to go with his 25 points. He was the only Pitt player in double digits, though; Odukale and Burton scored six each, while Jeffress and Ezeakudo scored five each. Gueye had two points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Capel changed his starting lineup for Tuesday night’s game. After going with Odukale, Jeffress, Hugley, Nate Santos and Dan Oladapo in each of the last four games, Capel replaced Santos with Burton and Oladapo with Gueye.

It was the first Pitt start for Burton, who transferred from Texas Tech. Gueye started the first two games of the season for the Panthers but worked off the bench for the last four.

Pitt will play its first ACC game of the season when the Panthers face Virginia at Charlottesville.