The old saying goes “two’s company and three’s a crowd” — and in the case of Pitt men’s basketball, the classic phrase reigns true.
After dropping their first ACC game against Duke and missing out on their make-up chance against Louisville, the Panthers did not have to worry too much. Two conference losses were not the end-all be-all, and there was still a lot of time to rewrite the trajectory of the season. That was, however, if the losing stopped — and unfortunately for Pitt, it did not.
On Wednesday night, the Panthers picked up their third loss in an away game against an at-best average FSU team. Now just .500 in conference play, Pitt’s loss column is exactly as aforementioned — crowded — and it is absolutely tanking the Panthers’ chances to dance come March.
The loss to Florida State was, flatly, a bad one, and was mostly dictated by the same sloppy mishaps that have defined Pitt every time they come up short against opposing teams.
Might as well put a bow on it
Throughout the night the Panthers gifted FSU possessions on a multitude of occasions — it was like taking candy from a baby. Pitt had a major issue with keeping the ball and totaled 17 turnovers throughout both halves, 14 of which came in the first 20 minutes of the game. It seemed as though Pitt was just giving the ball away.
Sophomore guard Jaland Lowe and senior guard Ishmael Leggett were hounded on defense all night with Seminoles stampeding at them whenever they touched the ball. But their response lost Pitt the game, and the backcourt duo combined for 12 turnovers.
Turnovers were the gift that kept on giving for FSU, and the Seminoles took advantage with double-digit points off of Pitt takeaways. This killed Pitt’s momentum and held them back from making any substantial run to take Florida State’s lead away.
In the first half, junior forward Cameron Corhen got the rebound off of a missed free throw and threw a lazy bounce pass that was picked off for a dunk. Off of an inbound pass, Lowe put the ball right into Seminole hands for a slam on the other end as well. Both were instances of free points and momentum for FSU — instances that show clear signs of needed discipline for the team.
Hanging on in the passenger seat
The Seminoles led Pitt for just about the entirety of the game, disregarding the 27 seconds that Pitt was up 14-12 early in the first half — absolutely inexcusable for a team with high aspirations.
As has proven the case in the other losses, Pitt oftentimes struggles to stop teams on a run, and FSU was able to take advantage of this, taking multiple high-scoring runs to the Panthers’ zero throughout the night.
Notable runs occurred late in the first half and early into the second — scoring that FSU carried over and that Pitt was unable to come back from.
With mere seconds left in the first period, Florida State missed a shot but got their own offensive board for the second-chance bucket to go up by two possessions heading into the locker room. Pitt, who would trail closely behind FSU for the early parts of the second, desperately could have used that extra bucket as they would never see the lead again for the rest of the game — something that would not have happened with a slightly closer disparity between the two teams’ totals. Florida State had four players with over 10 points in the game with their highest scorer tallying 26.
Double-digit scorers go MIA in the Sunshine State
In his homecoming game since transferring from the school last season, Corhen entered the night with the opportunity to stick it to his ex and prove to the FSU community that he is sorely missed. Instead, the big man put up two points on 0-4 shooting splits, showing that he was actually broke and that the Seminoles were indeed up.
Senior guard Damian Dunn, also a perpetual high-scorer, finished with just a pair of free throws to his name, not finding the bottom of the net on any of his eight attempts from the field.
Bad games do happen, and that is OK. Fans can’t expect the players to shoot the lights out every night. But when players are struggling to find their rhythm and the team can’t adapt or shift the game plan to accommodate, the problems arise, and for this to happen against a defense that ranks 57th in opponent effective field goal percentage is inexcusable. Things need to seriously shake up if Pitt wants to hang with some of the country’s finer programs.
JDG en fuego
A highlight from last night came in an unexpected place as junior forward Jorge Diaz Graham made do with his increased minutes. The Canary Islands native, who does not see more than an average of 6.8 minutes per game, put up 17 points on 4-5 three-point shooting in his increased 18 minute stretch of game time.
Diaz Graham heating up from beyond the arc helped propel Pitt back into the game, although not enough to push them ahead.
If Diaz Graham can continue this efficient long-range game, Panther faithfuls might see 31 in more lineups throughout the next few weeks of the season.