Push comes too late
Pitt fights to end but loses, 59-56
Even in what could fairly and understandably be categorized as a down year for the program, playing Virginia can feel like being stuck in quicksand.
The Cavaliers are the slowest team in college basketball, as measured by possessions per game, and have been for the past four seasons. They play defense better and more effectively on a year-to-year basis than any other program in the country. When combined with their slothlike tempo, it’s not uncommon to see their opponents struggle to crack 50 points, giving some of their final scores a cartoonish quality.
For much of Pitt’s 59-56 loss to Virginia on Saturday, it looked as though the Panthers would be swallowed by their opponent. A team that has struggled to shoot well and score efficiently on a consistent basis against ACC competition was tasked with
trying to do so against a squad that stifles even some of the best, most offensively potent teams in the sport.
But even when the Panthers mustered the strength and resolve to rise up from their early struggles and come within a shot of winning a game that had, for so much of the afternoon, appeared lost, they fell just short of escaping the pull of that quicksand.
Even though it was ultimately a loss, Pitt was a possession away from sending the game to overtime after having trailed by 13 points with 3:27 remaining. The Panthers did what they have done so often this season, even in some of the worst moments — they fought.
But the question of why Pitt had to fight so hard points to fundamental issues that, with just three regularseason games left to play, aren’t going away.
“How we finished the game, that’s how we should start from the jump — coming out punching the other team in the mouth and keeping our foot on the gas,” said forward Au’Diese Toney, who finished with 13 points. “Sometimes, we take our foot off the gas. A lot of times. There are too many good teams in this league to do that.”
Against a foe ranked fourth nationally in defensive efficiency, coach Jeff Capel’s team struggled for much of the day, making just 14 of its first 46 shots (30.4%) and two of its 13 3-pointers (15.4%).
Those offensive shortcomings were epitomized early in the second half during what, even after Pitt’s late push, proved to be the most crucial stretch of the afternoon. Trailing just 31-29 at halftime, the Panthers (15-13, 6-11 ACC) went 6:05 without a point. They’re no strangers to such droughts — though not always as long as six minutes, they’re seemingly a fixture of every game they play — but that doesn’t shield them from the effects of them.
“It’s frustrating,” Capel said. “It’s frustrating for all of us. But we don’t have an answer for it.”
In this case, an opening was provided for what has been a putrid Virginia offense for much of the season, one that is 213th of 353 Division I teams in offensive efficiency. As their opponent couldn’t hit a shot, the Cavaliers (19-7, 11-5) embarked on an 8-0 run punctuated by a Braxton Key layup that gave them a 44-31 lead. That margin remained intact going into the game’s final four minutes, with Virginia up, 54-41, after a Key free throw with 3:51 to play.
It was then, though, that the game turned suddenly. A Pitt offense that had been inept for much of the afternoon and for much of the past two weeks came alive.
Lifted by some uncharacteristic turnovers from Virginia point guard Kihei Clark and some fortuitously effective shooting, the Panthers found a rhythm they had previously seemed incapable of generating. Beginning with a layup from Justin Champagnie with 5:35 remaining, Pitt hit eight of its next 10 shots, with the final one of those buckets, a layup from Xavier Johnson with 52 seconds left, narrowing Virginia’s lead to 58-56.
After forcing a shot-clock violation on the other end, Pitt had a chance to tie the game or take the lead with a basket, but a step-back 3 from Trey McGowens was off. Key, though, made only one of two free throws on the other end, keeping the Panthers’ hopes alive with four seconds remaining.
In a timeout, Capel presented his plan. Johnson, who had a team-high 16 points and four assists and whose six points in the final 2:54 sparked the comeback, would take the ball up the court and, from outside the arc, create enough room for teammate Ryan Murphy, to whom he would pitch it back for a shot. The play unfolded as it should have, except for an all-too-important aspect — by the time Murphy was able to get the ball and pull up, the final buzzer had sounded.
“The play was for Xavier to get the ball and just go play,” Capel said. “Hopefully, Murphy could space, he could get to a spot and get to a shot. Unfortunately, we didn’t execute. We didn’t do that.”
It was Pitt’s fourth-consecutive loss, dropping the Panthers to 15-13 on the season only 10 days after it entered its Feb. 12 matchup against Clemson with a 15-9 record. It was also their fifth-consecutive loss against Virginia.
The fifth setback was very different than the four that preceded it, which had been collectively decided by 90 points. There was no ignominy to be found, the kind that those matchups provided in bulk, particularly during the Cavaliers’ last visit to Petersen Events Center, when they held the Panthers to seven first-half points in a 6637 rout that would be Kevin Stallings’ final home game as Pitt’s coach.
Part of that is due to a bit of a dip from Virginia, which finds itself on the NCAA tournament bubble after losing its top three scorers from last season’s national championship squad. Part of it, though, is progress from Pitt.
“That’s how you build it — you get those young guys experience,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said of Pitt. “That’s hard in today’s college game, to keep guys and get them to their upperclassman years, but that was our model and you can just see it coming. I think he [Capel] does a great job because of how hard they play.”
Still, after Saturday’s loss, Pitt is presented with a probing, searing question — why can’t the team that played the game’s final four minutes be something close to that for the entire game? It’s a question that, for now, remains unanswered.
“We had our moments and they had their moments,” Johnson said. “Of course, they had more moments. We’re capable of playing at that level every game. We’ve just got to bring it like that.”
Capel on sanctions
Capel said the NCAA sanctions handed down Thursday will have no impact on the program. “None,” Capel said when asked about it after the game. “Absolutely none.”
The sanctions included losing one coach at regular practice for 16 total hours during this season and losing two hours of in-season practice, penalties the Panthers have already fulfilled. In addition, the athletic department is on probation for three years.