Men’s Basketball: Panthers look to end worst skid since 2001 Saturday against Seton Hall

Five games can make a huge difference for a sports team. The Pitt men’s basketball team… Five games can make a huge difference for a sports team. The Pitt men’s basketball team is no exception.

The Panthers started their Big East season with an undefeated five-game eruption. The team followed up that performance with a tremendous swoon, dropping four out of its last five contests.

Now, Pitt (16-6, 6-4 Big East) attempts to get back on track this Saturday at home against Seton Hall (12-8, 3-6 Big East), which handed Pitt its second Big East defeat less than two weeks ago.

Pitt has been struggling mightily on the offensive end of the floor. The Panthers never managed to gain a lead in either of their last two losses to West Virginia and South Florida.

Eighty minutes of game action have passed since the Panthers were in a winning position against St. John’s.

In their last four losses, the Panthers have a combined 39 percent field goal percentage, accompanied by a 24 percent success rate from 3-point range. In comparison, the Panthers had a 45 percent field goal percentage and a 44 percent 3-point percentage during their first five Big East victories.

One factor contributing to the decline of the Pitt offense is Ashton Gibbs’ current cold streak. Entering the Georgetown game on Jan. 20, Gibbs averaged 17.5 points per game and made 43 percent of his attempted 3-pointers.

Since that point Gibbs has gone 6-29 from beyond the arc, or 21 percent.

However, all of the attention shouldn’t fall on Gibbs alone. Juniors Brad Wanamaker and Gilbert Brown failed to score a single point against backyard rival West Virginia on Wednesday night.

Before being blanked against the Mountaineers, Wanamaker and Brown were averaging 12.9 and 11.2 points per game, respectively.

One positive that can be taken from the 19-point, projectiles-on-the-court beating that West Virginia handed Pitt, is the play of true freshman J.J. Richardson. The 6-foot-7 Richardson had a career night while spelling Gary McGhee at center.

Richardson was averaging less than one point and one rebound per game this season before he scored seven points and grabbed four boards against the Mountaineers on Wednesday.

In what might be welcome news to Panther fans, since defeating Pitt 64-61, Seton Hall has gone on a slide of its own losses, to South Florida and Villanova. Additionally, Pitt will return to the Petersen Events Center where it holds an 11-1 record this season.

During this year’s first meeting between these two teams in Aliquippa, Pa., native Herb Pope scored a team-high 19 points for the Pirates. He leads the Big East averaging 11.2 rebounds a game. Pope played 38 minutes and made up for the absence of Seton Hall’s leading scorer, Jeremy Hazell, who sat out most of the game with foul trouble.

If Hazell can stay on the court, he is a force the Panthers must stop if they want to win. The junior guard is second in the Big East, averaging 23 points per game, and is coming off of a 32-point performance against Villanova.

Despite Gibbs’ problems shooting from the outside, he was the Panthers’ leading scorer against Seton Hall. The sophomore guard contributed 23 points, 14 of which came from free throws.

With more tough contests looming on the horizon, it becomes vital for the Panthers to defend their home court while improving their NCAA Tournament resumé.

One more slipup on Saturday and Pitt fans will be reaching for the panic button, which is something that seemed farfetched just five games ago.