Basketball: Winning streak ends, Pitt falls to USF

Not even Travon Woodall could save the Panthers basketball team on Wednesday night.

After his… Not even Travon Woodall could save the Panthers basketball team on Wednesday night.

After his return sparked a four-game win streak for Pitt, the point guard got into foul trouble in the team’s most recent game and had to watch from the sidelines as the Panthers lost on the road to South Florida, 63-51.

The Big East Player of the Week picked up his third personal early in the second half and was immediately benched. Shooting guard Ashton Gibbs took over at point guard, and with 15 minutes left to play, made his first basket to pull Pitt back to within four.

But three consecutive Pitt turnovers led to six straight South Florida points. The run forced Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon to call a timeout and put Woodall back in the game.

The junior point guard’s presence wasn’t enough to stop his team’s turnover woes, and the Bulls took advantage. USF raced out to a 14-point lead with eight minutes to play.

Pitt trailed by double-digits until Patterson knocked down a 3-pointer to make the score 53-45 with 2:49 remaining, but the team never got any closer.

Turnovers and poor shooting doomed the Panthers (15-10, 4-8) from the start.

Senior Gibbs went scoreless in the first 20 minutes, missing each of his four shots. His teammates didn’t do much better. Pitt’s top-three scorers — Gibbs, senior Nasir Robinson and junior Lamar Patterson — could only manage two points among them in the first half.

Pitt shot 35 percent from the field and surrendered 11 of its 17 turnovers in the first half.

Sophomore J.J. Moore did his best to rally the team, pacing the Panthers with six points in the first half. As Pitt trailed by three with 30 seconds before halftime, Moore drove past his defender and threw down a dunk. But the Bulls’ Jawanza Poland buried a three as the buzzer sounded to give South Florida (14-10, 7-4) a 27-23 halftime lead.

Gibbs shot 2-9 from the field and finished with four points. Woodall led the team with 11 points and was the only Panther to reach double figures. For the game, Pitt shot just 34 percent from the field and 25 percent from beyond the arc.

Senior Hugh Robertson of South Florida led all scorers with 18 points. The Bulls dominated inside, scoring 34 points in the paint and out-rebounding the Panthers 27-23.

Pitt’s next game is Sunday at Seton Hall. The Panthers will get a shot at redemption a week later when they welcome South Florida to the Petersen Events Center.