After Pitt’s 74-66 loss to Georgetown Wednesday, a few of the fans that stayed to the final… After Pitt’s 74-66 loss to Georgetown Wednesday, a few of the fans that stayed to the final buzzer gave the Panthers a lackluster round of applause for the end of the team’s 31-game home win streak.

The hesitant clapping didn’t do the streak justice.

Of course nobody was in the mood to congratulate Pitt for losing, but with the Hoyas back in Washington, I think it’s time we looked back at the once second-longest home winning streak in the nation.

Pitt kicked off the win string against Cincinnati on Feb. 27, 2008. The starting five: Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Keith Benjamin, Levance Fields and Ronald Ramon. Pitt beat the Bearcats, 73-67.

The streak saw Pitt defeat 10 different Big East teams, including Cincinnati twice and DePaul three times. Villanova, Providence, Seton Hall and Rutgers never visited Pittsburgh, while Georgetown killed the string.

The streak lasted 699 days. In that span, the Lions lost at home fourteen times.

Brett Favre retired, unretired, was traded to the New York Jets, retired, was released, unretired and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Pitt’s home victories edged out Favre’s interception total, 31-29.

Kansas — the program currently with the longest home winning streak at 53 games — had five players drafted to the NBA.

Pitt’s first home victory coincided with the Penguins acquiring Marian Hossa. Hossa played for three teams between Pitt home losses, and the Penguins won 30 playoff games.

The Wall Street Journal mentioned the Petersen Events Center during the streak in its report on the toughest places to win in college basketball, citing the Oakland Zoo as a big reason why. The 31-game win streak isn’t even the longest in the arena’s history — Pitt started inside the Pete 34-0.

But as important as the home crowd is — 1,500 students tend to be loud — the road record during the span is as impressive. The Panthers went 23-9 away from home, with wins against No. 1 Connecticut, No. 5 Syracuse and No. 8 Georgetown.

Some other facts about the streak:

Most points scored (team): 98, against DePaul on March 9, 2008, the second win of the streak. Every Panther starter scored double digits — and freshman Gilbert Brown, too, who had 13 off the bench.

Most points scored (individual): 33, Sam Young in a 74-60 win over Belmont, the seventh of the streak. Young also had the second-highest single-game total, racking up 31 against No. 1 Connecticut last March.

Least points allowed: 32, versus New Hampshire earlier this year, number 26 of the 31 wins. The game broke a lot of records — the lowest scoring first half of the shot-clock era, for one — but not many good ones. Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker scored all but five of Pitt’s points.

Largest margin of victory: 35, against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in a Dec. 2008 91-56 win, the 10th of the streak. Freshman Ashton Gibbs knocked down a then-career-high 13 points in 11 minutes in the blowout. UMBC is 1-18 this year.

Smallest margin of victory: three, in this year’s season-opening nail biter victory over Wofford, the 22nd of the streak. The Blair and Young-led Pitt team of 2008-09 won every game at home by at least 10 points, but the young Panthers started off 2009-10 a bit apprehensively.

Biggest deficit overcome: 10, again against Wofford. Pitt trailed by 10 with 16:24 to go before the Terriers defense cracked. It was the only double-digit deficit the Panthers faced at home during the run — second place goes to last year’s Notre Dame game, where Pitt trailed, 20-11, in the first half before Blair went off for 23 points and 22 rebounds.

Latest comeback: 1.9 seconds left and down two against Louisville, the final victory of the streak. Brad Wanamaker hit both free throws to send the game to overtime, the only extra session in the 31-game span. Pitt also trailed the Cardinals by four with 17.8 seconds to go.

The last team to beat Pitt at home before Georgetown? Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals, 75-73, on Feb. 24, 2008.