Rebounding rut, Dunn masterclass highlights Pitt men’s basketball’s loss to Louisville

On Saturday afternoon, Pitt men’s basketball missed out on a bounce-back win against Louisville, losing 82-78 at home. 

The Panthers underperformed in many aspects, which ultimately lost them the game. A lackluster showing in the rebounding department alongside more poor three-point defense held Pitt back from claiming the second spot in the ACC rankings and a potential place in the AP Top 25. However, there were good points throughout the matchup including notes on the Panthers’ offensive attack and the fan atmosphere.

Glass cleaning conundrum

Louisville scored 22 second-chance points against Pitt off of 17 offensive rebounds, including one that gave the Cardinals the ball back after a miss with under a minute to go and the Panthers down two, which conclusively decided the game. 

“[I’m] disappointed that we didn’t rebound the basketball better. That was the game,” head coach Jeff Capel said.

It seemed as though every possession, the Cardinals had multiple chances to score which helped them get to big runs and hold a lead time of 22:43.

Damian Dunn is back in full form 

In his second game back from injury, senior guard Damian Dunn showed the Panthers’ faithful why he had been sorely missed. The 11-plus points-per-game scorer put up 15 on extremely efficient 75% shooting splits from downtown as well as a team-high eight rebounds on the day. 

“I feel good. I have two games under my belt now. It’s been a long time coming, but you know … getting my legs back under me. It’s a long season ahead, so I’ll be prepared,” Dunn said.

I was skeptical as to how Dunn would fare with only one game under his belt since his return to the court from surgery. The transfer guard did not start and was still seen shaking his wrapped-up hand out in warmups. When Dunn did enter the game, he got off to a slow start, having ball control issues when going to his right — which led to a turnover in his first possession. 

His first half was quiet with only a bucket to his name, but a fiery second half rewrote the script of Dunn needing time to ease back into the lineup as he helped keep Pitt in the game down the stretch.

Offense looks tough

Concerns about Pitt’s offensive ability started to rise after its dry performance at No. 4 Duke, yet the Panthers pushed doubters back with strong execution on the scoring side of the ball on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe posted 24 points — 13 of which came from his perfection from the charity stripe. Lowe shot 100% from the line, earning his stripes from driving to the paint and drawing fouls on tough attempts to attack the rim. 

Scoring in the paint is truly Lowe’s bread and butter. Once the guard got downhill, he had much success on layups, turnaround jumpers, kick outs to the wings for threes and connections to junior forward Cameron Corhen, who he found on two lob passes for scores. 

Lowe was not the only backcourt player to find success around the rim. Senior guard Ishmael Leggett and Dunn stuffed their stat sheets with buckets from the key which helped them find open shooters behind the three-point line after the Cardinals sent collapsing double teams. The team shot 47.6% from three-point land, an improvement from their 30% showing in Durham.

Oakland Zoo turned up

The blue and gold faithful reminded everyone what it means to have a home-court advantage. Despite the loss, the fans were loud and passionate throughout the entirety of the game — most importantly, down the stretch when the team needed them the most. 

“It’s a tough environment … the environment here was electric,” Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said. “I thought it was awesome. Big hats off to the Oakland Zoo … give credit where credit is due, they were phenomenal. That’s a great college basketball atmosphere.”

On big shots late in the game and on controversial calls from the refs — and there were most definitely a few — the crowd and stadium erupted.

Catch the Panthers back in action on ESPN this Wednesday at 9 p.m. as they travel to Florida State.