Providence upsets No. 1 Pitt

‘ ‘ ‘ The first time the Pitt basketball team reached the apex of the No. 1 ranking in the… ‘ ‘ ‘ The first time the Pitt basketball team reached the apex of the No. 1 ranking in the country, it remained there for two weeks before losing. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The No. 1 will remain in front of Pitt’s name until Monday, but the Panthers couldn’t hold the top spot in college basketball for more than two days. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Sloppy early play dug Pitt (25-3, 12-3 Big East) into an 18-point halftime ditch that it couldn’t quite climb out of in last night’s 81-73 defeat to unranked Providence at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Friars (17-11, 9-7) captured their first win against a No. 1-ranked program since a 1976 victory against Michigan. And on Senior Night in Providence, the team’s four elder statesmen keyed perhaps the largest victory in their tenure. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Weyinmi Efejuku led the Friar seniors with 16 points on 9-of-10 free-throw shooting, Jonathan Kale notched 12 of his 13 points in the vital first half and veterans Geoff McDermott and Randall Hanke finished in double figures for Providence. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Friars seemingly needed a victory over the top-ranked Panthers to reinvigorate hopes at an NCAA Tournament bid and used the motivation to jump out to a 44-26 lead at halftime. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt outscored Providence 47-37 in the second half but never led for the first time in a game this season. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The loss snapped the Panthers’ seven-game winning streak. Before last night’s setback, Pitt’s last defeat came nearly a month before ‘mdash; a 67-57 loss to Villanova. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt sophomore center DeJuan Blair led his team with 17 points and eight rebounds but was far from his dominant self that he exuded in last week’s victories over Connecticut and DePaul. He toiled in foul trouble for much of the game before fouling out with 46 seconds remaining on a moving pick with the Panthers down 77-70. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Senior forward Sam Young tallied 16 points and eight rebounds, and freshman guard Ashton Gibbs made four 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 15 points. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But the Panthers couldn’t work their way back from the steep first-half deficit that materialized from 10 turnovers. Pitt finished the contest with 18 turnovers, its worst output since its initial loss of the year to Louisville. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt appeared lethargic from the onset, falling behind 15-4 only five minutes into the game and committing seven turnovers in the first eight minutes. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The Panthers closed to 29-25 with 6:25 left in the first half on a field goal from Blair, but Pitt would only score one more point for the rest of the half. Providence sprinted to a 15-1 stretch that finished the ditch-digging with a 44-26 halftime score. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt finally grabbed some momentum early in the second half, pulling within 10 at 52-42 with 13:50 to play. The Friars wouldn’t ease up and extended their advantage to 67-50 on a Sharaud Curry 3-pointer with only 6:30 left on the clock. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The top-ranked team had one ounce of fight left in it, and Blair tipped in a missed 3-pointer with 50 seconds remaining to place the deficit at 75-70. But the center fouled out seconds later, and Providence was 6 for 8 on free throws from there on out to send the Dunkin’ Donuts crowd screaming to the floor.