On Saturday afternoon, Pitt men’s basketball (12-4, ACC 3-2) hosted Louisville (12-5, ACC 5-1), hoping to bounce back after a tough loss at No. 4 Duke earlier this week. Instead, the Panthers faltered, losing 82-78 in a game riddled with a lack of rebounding especially on the Cardinals’ offensive glass.
The story of the game was Pitt’s inability to get the ball back, with Louisville collecting 43 rebounds, taking 17 offensive boards to Pitt’s five allowing the Cardinals to pick up 22 second-chance points.
“They had 36 points in the paint, and the majority of them came from offensive rebounds,” Pitt head coach Jeff Capell said. “The one common denominator in all four losses that we’ve had is that we’ve gotten beaten pretty significantly on the glass, and that’s an area where we have to change.”
“[The key is] to be nasty, go get the stinking ball,” Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said on the teams’ excellence on rebounding the ball. “You know, somebody blocks you out…go get it anyway.”
The loss breaks Pitt’s five game win streak over Louisville, which includes a dominating 86-59 win in Pittsburgh last February.
Under their first year head coach, Louisville came to Pittsburgh red-hot on a five game win streak. The Cardinals average 30.9 three-point attempts per game, and continued to shoot the ball deep against the Panthers, going 13-for-35 from deep and shooting 56.3% in the second half which ultimately helped decide the game for Louisville.
The Cardinals’ shooting came much at the hands of senior guard Reyne Smith who had 25 points, on 7-for-11 splits from beyond the arc — a takeover on offense.
“He says the rim looks like the ocean,” Kelsey said about the sharp shooter. “He’s hard to deal with once, once he’s playing.”
The game got off to a slow start, staying scoreless for the first two minutes before Louisville jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. The Panthers were quick to respond with ten points, highlighted by a quick three from senior guard Ishmael Leggett.
Pitt continued to shoot the ball well, getting out to an 18-10 lead before the Cardinals stormed back, nabbing rebound after rebound to keep their offensive possessions alive and stalled the Panther attack with a 14-0 scoring run.
Pitt struggled to bring the ball back to their side of the court, as the Cardinals ended the first half with 23 rebounds — 10 on offense — which led to 14 second chance points. However, the Cardinals failed to capitalize at the free throw line, making only three of their eight attempts, allowing Pitt to stay right in the game.
The Panthers headed to the locker room down 34-35, spending more than 15 minutes trailing in the first half but seemingly still in position to retake the lead.
Louisville sped to a five-point lead out of the break, but Pitt fought back with free throws from sophomore guard Jaland Lowe and junior forward Cameron Corhen. After back-to-back three pointers from Leggett and graduate student guard Damian Dunn, Pitt had bought itself a 44-43 lead and forced the Cardinals to take a timeout.
The game stayed close, with Louisville dominating the Panthers defense and continuing to grab rebounds. Louisville senior guard Chucky Hepburn grabbed 6 defensive rebounds and had 15 points to keep them in the game.
“We have to defend better, and we have to rebound the basketball,” Capell said on improving after the loss.
With less than five minutes to play, Louisville led 69-64. Dunn made a huge three to shrink the Cardinal’s lead, but Hepburn was quick to return it with a stepback jumper for three points to make it a five point game once again. Returning to Pitt’s side of the court, the Cardinals fouled Lowe on a three point attempt where he stayed perfect from the line.
The Pitt guard had a stellar second half, with 15 points and 4 assists, but it wasn’t enough.
In the final minute, Louisville grabbed yet another offensive rebound to keep control of the game, running down the clock and escaping the Petersen Event Center as the second best team in the ACC, Pitt falling down the ranks to the sixth spot.
Pitt returns to the court next Wednesday in Tallahassee at 9 p.m. to take on Florida State, looking to jump back to the win column.