February free fall: Pitt loses at Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, IND. – It took Pitt five years to lose a road conference game by double digits… SOUTH BEND, IND. – It took Pitt five years to lose a road conference game by double digits under Jamie Dixon. It only took six days for it to happen a second time.

Last night, the Panthers (19-7, 7-6 Big East) lost to No. 21 Notre Dame by 12 points, 82-70. It was game in which Pitt led by five at the half, and increased the lead to 11 with just under 14 minutes to play.

“It would have been different if they had been beating us the whole game,” said Pitt center DeJuan Blair, “but we had it.”

Blair recorded his 10th double-double this year, scoring 14 points to go with his 13 rebounds.

Tying Blair for the game-high in rebounds was 5-foot-11-inch guard Tory Jackson of Notre Dame. It was his career high.

“I take responsibility for allowing him to get so many rebounds tonight,” Keith Benjamin said. “That was me not following the scouting report.”

As a team, the Irish (20-5, 10-3) outrebounded the Panthers, 45-37.

“We just weren’t boxing out,” Blair said. “We got beat on the rebounds. That’s why we lost.”

Another reason for the loss: poor 3-point shooting.

The Panthers shot 28 percent from beyond the arc for the game, including an abysmal 16 percent in the second half.

“We haven’t won games when we’ve shot that poor from 3,” Dixon said.

Ronald Ramon, one of the Panthers top 3-point shooters, went 0 for 6 from 3-point range. He didn’t fare much better within the arc either, scoring no points the entire game.

Fellow guard, Levance Fields, was one of the bright spots for Pitt.

In his second game back from a foot injury on Dec. 29, the junior scored 10 points and had five assists in 25 minutes. In his first game back last week, he scored four points and had two turnovers in 20 minutes.

“This was a big step for him,” Dixon said. “He played with more confidence.” Fields appeared more in synch with his teammates this game, especially on offense.

Coming off the bench with about 14 and a half minutes left in the first half, Fields hit his first shot, a 3-pointer.

A few series later, he grabbed two offensive rebounds and hit a cutting Brad Wanamaker, who was fouled.

Toward the end of the first half, with Pitt leading by one, he drove to the basket, was hit in the air by a defender and knocked to the ground, but still managed to sink the layup. He made his free throw and the Panthers took a four-point lead.

Benjamin was the top scorer for Pitt in the first half, with 10 points, including a 3-pointer with 16 seconds to go, giving Pitt a five-point halftime lead. He would finish the game with 15.

The Panthers came out in the second half seemingly ready to run away with the game. Blair was a big reason for the fast start.

He made the Panthers’ first basket of the half – a three-point play courtesy of a layup and made free throw. He then tipped in a miss by Sam Young, and drew a charge on Notre Dame’s very next possession.

Next, the freshman hit a jump shot to give the Panthers a 42-32 lead, their biggest of the game at that point.

Then the Panthers got sloppy.

With the lead down to four, Dixon called a timeout. On the inbounds pass, Young chucked the ball the length of the court, overthrowing a streaking Benjamin. On the ensuing possession, two Harangody free throws cut the lead in half. Young answered back with a 3-pointer to make it 58-53.

With just under six minutes left, a long 3-pointer by Kyle McAlarney tied the game at 61. Harangody then stole the ball from Fields as he dribbled up court, leading to an easy dunk and a Notre Dame 63-61 lead. Two free throws by Gilbert Brown tied the game, but not for long.

Jackson continued his impressive night by hitting a long two, which was looked over by the referees and ruled a 3-pointer to give the Irish a 66-63 advantage. A three by Ryan Ayers gave the Irish a 69-64 lead.

A pass from Blair to a cutting Young should have led to an easy two points, but Young cocked back his arm and went for a powerful one-handed slam, only to throw the ball into the front of the rim.

“We missed some free throws, we missed some layups, we missed a dunk and that obviously can change a game,” Dixon said.

Two straight layups by Harangody gave Notre Dame a 73-64 lead. The Big East player of the year contender led all scorers with 23 points and he also recorded 12 rebounds.

Jackson, who for the first time in his career was named to the Big East honor roll last week, added 16 points to go with his career night on the boards.

Young led the Panthers with 20 points and also had eight rebounds.