Pitt basketball extends losing streak to six with loss to No. 24 Marquette

The Pitt men’s basketball team extended its losing streak to six games on Saturday as the… The Pitt men’s basketball team extended its losing streak to six games on Saturday as the Panthers fell at No. 24 Marquette.

Coming off one of its poorest performances in a decade against Rutgers on Wednesday, Pitt (11-7, 0-5 Big East) entered halftime with the 29-24 lead against the first ranked opponent it has played all season, but the Golden Eagles stormed back after the break to win 62-57.

With 11 minutes remaining in the game, Marquette (14-4, 3-2 Big East) went on a 13-0 run to grab an eight-point lead. During the run, the stingy Golden Eagles’ defense forced five Pitt turnovers.

Senior guard Darius Johnson-Odom emerged in the final five minutes for Marquette – going 3-4 with eight points. He finished with 18 total points. After Johnson-Odom’s back to back 3-pointers with three minutes remaining, Pitt could not complete a comeback.

With Pitt down three and 18 seconds remaining in the game, Davante Gardner nabbed an offensive rebound to seal the victory for Marquette.

Pitt came out with a strong first half.

Ashton Gibbs, who has struggled recently from the field, got off to a fast start — scoring 14 points in the first half. After going 0-7 beyond the arc against Rutgers, moving to shooting guard seemed to help Gibbs’ offensive production and he finished with a career-high 29 points.

With starting point guard Travon Woodall still sitting out with an injury, head coach Jamie Dixon shook up his starting lineup once again. He started redshirt freshman Isaiah Epps at point guard and moved Gibbs to shooting guard. Freshman John Johnson, who started at shooting guard recently, came off the bench.

With four 3-point shots, Gibbs became Pitt’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals with 261.

Nasir Robinson – who had 10 points in the game – lead Pittsburgh with seven turnovers. No one else on the team was able to score more than eight points to follow Ashton Gibbs’ lead.

The quest for Pitt’s first Big East victory won’t get any easier. The Panthers will pay visit to the Carrier Dome on Monday to face No. 1 Syracuse. The loss to Marquette marked the start of a series of four ranked teams in five games for Pitt.