Men’s Basketball: Pitt hopes to end losing streak on Saturday

The Pitt men’s basketball team posted its lowest point total in 29 years in its loss to… The Pitt men’s basketball team posted its lowest point total in 29 years in its loss to Rutgers on Wednesday.

The Panthers shot a dismal 21.1 percent from the field in falling to the Scarlet Knights 62-39 to remain winless in the Big East.

On Saturday, the Panthers will travel to Milwaukee in search of their first Big East triumph in the midst of a five-game skid that began Dec. 23 against Wagner at the Petersen Events Center.

“We have to execute better,” Pitt senior Nasir Robinson said after the loss to Rutgers. “The last couple of practices we’ve been doing better, but we need to make it translate to the game.”

Pitt (11-6, 0-4 Big East) will face arguably its toughest matchup of the season on Saturday against No. 24 Marquette (13-4, 2-2 Big East) — the first ranked team that the Panthers have played this season.

Pitt will take on a Golden Eagle squad that possesses the assets on the perimeter and in the frontcourt to stretch Pitt’s losing streak to six games.

An inability to defend scorers on the perimeter has plagued the Panthers all year. In each of its six losses, an opposing guard led the contest in scoring.

Rutgers guard Eli Carter scored 14 points Wednesday. DePaul guard Brandon Young scored 26 points on Jan. 5. Cincinnati guards Jaquon Parker and Sean Kilpatrick posted 21 and 19 points, respectively, on New Year’s Day.

On Dec. 27, Notre Dame guard Alex Dragicevich scored 22 points while guards Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant each scored 15 points. The 52 combined points were just seven points shy of what the nine Panthers who played that night mustered overall.

In nonconference play on Dec. 23, Wagner guard Latif Rivers scored 18 points in his team’s upset of the then-No. 13 Panthers. In Pitt’s first loss of the season, Long Beach State guard Casper Ware scored 28 to hand Pitt a loss at home, which at the time was rare.

Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom — one of the top players in the Big East — will likely inflict the same damage on the Panthers.

Coming off a 20-point performance in Marquette’s 83-64 victory over St. John’s Wednesday, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound guard ranks fourth in the Big East in scoring, posting 18 points per game in 16 contests this season.

He’s also shot the basketball relatively well this season, shooting 44 percent overall and making 2.1 3-pointers per game.

In the post, Pitt’s frontcourt players will face a challenge in the form of 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward Jae Crowder. Crowder is Marquette’s second leading scorer and the leading rebounder with 16.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim complimented both Odom and Crowder after the Orange’s win over Marquette.

“They are both tremendous players,” he said in the postgame press conference. “For their size, they are as good as anybody in the league. They play big. They play tough. They are tough guys. They rebound. They defend. They are both just tremendous players.”

Flanking Crowder is sophomore forward Davante Gardner, a 6-foot-8, 290-pound bruiser whose size will provide matchup problems for the Panthers. Although Gardner averages just 8.7 points per game, he is fourth in shooting percentage among Big East players, making baskets at a 59 percent clip.

Countering and containing Marquette’s talented trio will be key for the Panthers on Saturday.

Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs hopes to get back on track after lackluster shooting performances in the past few games. Most recently, he shot 2-11 from the field against Rutgers and didn’t make any of the seven 3-point shots he attempted.

Although Gibbs leads the Panthers in scoring at 16.7 points per game, the senior guard is currently shooting a career-low 38.7 percent. And, despite his renown as one of the deadliest shooters from beyond the arc in the country, Gibbs’ 3-point percentage also dropped to a career-low 36 percent.

“I have to be more patient on the screens, and when I find myself open, I have to knock down the shot,” Gibbs said after the loss to Rutgers. “I have great expectations for myself, and I need to step up and make shots.”

His drop in effectiveness can likely be attributed to the absence of starting point guard Travon Woodall, who has missed all but one game since suffering an abdominal tear and groin strain during the City Game against Duquesne on Nov. 30.

In Woodall’s absence, Gibbs has been forced to take control of running the offense and is unable to focus on his greatest strength: shooting.

Gibbs’ classmate Nasir Robinson hopes to help the Panthers turn their season around. A spike in scoring complements Robinson’s hustle and passing ability. Robinson is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.9 points a game. He also leads a thin Pitt frontcourt in rebounding, grabbing 6.7 boards per game.

However, Robinson has not been immune to the poor play afflicting many Panthers, and he said he was disappointed with the Panthers’ performance on the board against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights outrebounded Pitt by 16.

“It was the most disappointing thing about the game because that is our main focus,” he said after the game. “We have to do a better job boxing out, and we can’t let them out-hustle us.”

In the event that Woodall does not return from his injury Saturday night, another Panther will need to step up and produce against Marquette.

Lamar Patterson has shown the ability to put the ball in the basket, and Talib Zanna has also posted nice scoring totals throughout the season.

However, it remains to be seen if either of these players can give Gibbs and Robinson the support they will need to pull out a tough win on the road.

This is a matchup that Pitt should view as a must-win game in order to begin to salvage a season that is quickly deteriorating.

“The kids are extremely disappointed. We are disappointed as a staff, and we know our fans are disappointed,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said after the loss to Rutgers. “We are very sorry for how we played.”