Men’s basketball: Irish hand Pitt second loss of season

After Notre Dame ended the Pitt men’s basketball team’s quest for the Big East tournament… After Notre Dame ended the Pitt men’s basketball team’s quest for the Big East tournament title last season, the Panthers goal in Monday night’s contest could be summed up in one word: revenge.

But in a twist of fate, the No. 14 Fighting Irish (17-4, 6-3 Big East) did it again.

Notre Dame went home with its first true road victory of the year and handed Pitt (19-2, 7-1 Big East) its first Big East loss this season at the Petersen Events Center in a 56-51 victory.

“[Notre Dame] deserved to win; they made the plays down the stretch,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said after the game. “I’m just disappointed in how we executed both offensively and defensively, but Notre Dame had a lot to do with that. Give them credit.”

Just hours before the contest against Notre Dame, Pitt rose to No. 2 in the national polls. The Panthers have won 51 of their last 53 games at the Petersen Events Center, two of which were against top-5 teams this season.

“I think this is one of the toughest places to play in the country. To come in here and get a ‘W’ really says something,” Irish guard Ben Hansbrough said. “This is the probably best win I’ve had, maybe ever.”

It took more than luck for Notre Dame to beat Pitt on their home court after so many losses on the road, though. Irish head coach Mike Brey said he specifically planned for the kind of style Pitt plays.

“I’m really proud of our group to learn the process of winning on the road, and this was the ultimate road challenge for us,” Brey said.

Notre Dame’s approach was to slow down Pitt’s intensity by stalling in the half-court set and reducing possessions. The Irish consistently held the ball to the near end of their possession clock and then made their move to the hoop.

“We talked about meeting the home team’s competitive energy. I thought we did that,” Brey said. “We certainly executed our game plan of burning clock and executing at the end of the clock.”

The Notre Dame game plan was executed by a starting line-up of five seniors. Hansbrough, probably the biggest concern for the Panthers going into the game, averages 18 points a game and scored 28 points against Marquette on Saturday.

The contest against Pitt was no different. Both Nasir Robinson and Brad Wanamaker guarded Hansbrough at various points during the game, but he still managed to score 19 points — including six key points to build Irish momentum down the stretch.

“Ben was just fabulous finding people, dragging the ball screen, understanding the mismatch and finding our shooters,” Brey said.

In what was a relatively low-scoring game, the Panthers could not seem to adjust to the different style of play and lacked the intensity seen against Syracuse.

Notre Dame limited Ashton Gibbs to only nine points, with Gilbert Brown and Brad Wanamaker contributing 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Brown said Pitt did not play the type of basketball it normally does, and that worked against the team.

“It was us rushing [the ball] and being impatient,” Brown said. “There was a little selfishness, and just not being able to do what we did in the past games that got us here. We did a lot of things that were uncharacteristic of ourselves … and that’s the reason why we lost.”

The Panthers, who usually dominate their opponent on the boards, did so again tonight by a 29-23 margin. But this time simply out-rebounding the opponent wasn’t enough.

Gary McGhee was muscled under the hoop by forward and Irish difference-maker Carleton Scott, who scored 16 points and shot 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Scott Martin also contributed 10 points to the Irish effort.

Scott’s scoring coupled with Hansbrough proved too much for the Panthers to handle, and after losing momentum with just minutes remaining in the second half, they were unable to recover it.

“It’s one loss. I know a lot will be made of it, and we’re used to that,” Dixon said. “We’ll learn from it, and I think we’ll be better because of it. We have to be.”

The Panthers are set to take on Rutgers in New Brunswick, N.J., on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.