Ugly. That is the only word to describe Pitt’s game at Louisville. After starting a promising 3-0 in ACC play everything came crashing down in the Panther’s 59-41 defeat. Anything that could have gone wrong did and now Pitt is still looking for a signature win.
Recap:
The night had a promising beginning, Michael Young scored the Panthers first seven and looked to be having a field day on Louisville. From there Pitt’s offense went down in flames. Just getting the ball into the half court seemed like an impossible obstacle. Louisville’s pressure forced Pitt to a season low, by far, 17 points at half. The Cardinals did not fare much better only scoring 20 of their own, but their defense did force 11 turnovers.
After scoring just three points in the final nine minutes of the first half, Pitt continued to look lost on offense in the second. In the first ten minutes of the second half the Panthers had only added eight points to their total. Somehow that was an upgrade, unfortunately Louisville’s Chinanu Onuaku was having a field day in the paint. The sophomore from Maryland put up 18 points 10 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. His excellent play guided them to a 15 point lead at the under eight timeout, which in this game might as well of been a 50 point lead. The lead would eventually grow as high as 20 before finally settling at a comfortable 18 point win for Rick Pitino’s squad.
The only real scoring done by Pitt came from Jamel Artis and Michael Young, they had 11 and 18 points respectively. However, they both recorded four turnovers apiece and finished shooting 10-25 from the field combined.
Positives:
NOTHING- Honestly this has to be right up there as one of the worst performances by a Pitt basketball team in recent memory. When going back and thinking about it more it continues to get worse. This was a game on national television during primetime, where Pitt could have shown the college basketball world they are for real and they fell flat on their face. The lasting image many people will have of the Panthers will be the absolute domination Louisville displayed on defense against an offense that was averaging 85 points a game. The game was so bad in fact that Pitt managed more turnovers, 19, than field goals, 14. It was such terrible night that there is really nothing encouraging to take away and that is why no positives can be listed.
Negatives:
Turnovers- Like it was stated earlier Pitt had more turnovers than field goals in the game. The remarkable thing at half was that Pitt had 11 turnovers compared to 17 points. Also, what is even crazier than that is in Pitt’s two previous games they turned it over a combined 11 times. For a team that only averages 10 a game this was absolutely shocking.
Interior Defense- This looks like it’s going to be an issue that plagues the Panthers all season. Purdue’s big man Hammons bullied Pitt earlier this season and on Thursday night Onuaku did the same.
Handling Press- Pitt looked overmatched on many fazes of this game, none more than the press. Louisville has not been pressing as much this year, but in this contest they utilized it fully. The Panther guards consistently threw the ball away and overall looked lost.
Scoring-After Artis and Young Pitt has no other player who can get up a good shot. Sterling Smith relies on open catch and shoot threes, James Robinson is reluctant to take it himself, Rafael Maia is restricted to lay ups, Chris Jones is same as Smith, and Sheldon Jeter needs open mid range jumpers or cutting lay ups. The Cardinals doubled Artis and Young all night, which forced them to put the ball in other players’ hands who could do nothing with it.
James Robinson- it has been mentioned on several occasions that Robinson has one of the best assist to turnover ratios in all of college basketball. Against Louisville he was far from efficient registering only two assists compared to three turnovers.
Tournament Resume- Pitt’s season has yet to yield a signature win and this was the perfect chance to do just that. Instead with the loss they continue onward trying to prove they belong in the field of 68.
Offensive Grade: F
If there were a grade lower than an F Pitt sure would have received that. It really should not come as a surprise when you look at their numbers. On the night they were 14-19(28.6%) from the field, 1-11(9.1%) from three, and 12-20(60%) at the line. All three of those are down from their season average, obviously, and the one out of all of those that was most surprising was the free throw shooting. Coming in at around 80% for the season Pitt was the best in the nation at the charity stripe and to perform like that was just awful. But hey at least the won the jump ball.
Defensive Grade: D-
The defense was a little better than the offense, but make not mistake about it a lot of the turnovers by Louisville were caused by their own stupid mistakes. They made passes to no one on several occasions, which had nothing to do with the Panther defense. When push came to shove and the Cardinals started running in transition they blew past Pitt.
Coaching Grade: F
The team has had since Saturday to prepare for this game and to lose like this it is unacceptable. Dixon’s team looked completely hopeless against the press and that surely falls on the coach for lack of preparation. The offense never adjusted to Louisville’s match-up zone, making it feel like Dixon did not know what to do. Lastly, when your team fails this epically in a primetime game you get a failing grade.
Up Next:
Pitt returns home to take on the 7-9 Boston College Eagles in the Peterson Events Center at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday January 16th.