First-half fumblings foster loss

For the first 20 minutes of play last night, it was hard to tell which team was ranked fifth… For the first 20 minutes of play last night, it was hard to tell which team was ranked fifth in the nation and which team had lost two of its last three contests heading into last night’s game.

Turnovers, poor shooting and deficient rebounding contributed to Pitt’s worst start to a game all season. The dreadful first half proved to be overwhelming as the Panthers stumbled to their fourth loss of the season and their worst ever loss at the Petersen Events Center.

“I thought we weren’t aggressive enough,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “That was the word I used throughout halftime. I thought we weren’t aggressive. That’s why we had so many turnovers.”

The Panthers shot a miserable 24 percent from the field in the first half and failed to knock down a 3-pointer until the 6:45 mark in the second half. Meanwhile, Louisville connected on 43 percent of their shots, including 43 percent from 3-point range.

Pitt’s 19 points in the first half were a season low.

Even the shots were few and far between, as Pitt committed nearly as many turnovers (16) as they took shots (21). Every Pitt starter had at least one turnover by intermission. In fact, Pitt played in 16 games this season in which they committed fewer turnovers than they did by halftime last night.

The Cardinals stifled Pitt with a full-court press that lasted not only the entirety of the half, but the whole game. Several turnovers came before the Panthers could even cross half-court. And while Louisville did not cash in on all of their takeaway opportunities, eight of their 36 points came off Pitt miscues.

“That’s what we talked about, being aggressive offensively and against the press. I thought that was the biggest thing we talked about at halftime and throughout the first half,” Dixon said. “You’ve got to be aggressive and patient at the same time, and we just weren’t doing that.”

The Panthers connected on nearly twice as many free throws (nine) as field goals (five) through the first 20 minutes.

While the Panthers were only out-rebounded by the Cardinals 21-19, Louisville continued to come up with key offensive rebounds for second-chance opportunities, opportunities that they rarely squandered. In fact, the Cardinals 11 offensive boards were actually more than they had on defense. Twelve points, or exactly one-third of their score in the first half, came on second-chance opportunities.

These are the sticky situations in which head coach Jamie Dixon would normally rely upon his seniors for leadership.

Unfortunately, his seniors were the leading culprits.

Preseason Big East Player of the Year Aaron Gray finished with six first-half points while turning the ball over twice.

His partner in the paint, fellow senior Levon Kendall, led the team with four first-half turnovers, while the third senior starter, Antonio Graves, contributed three of his own.

While the Cardinals did not exactly practice perfect ball control, having turned the ball over 10 times themselves, their feisty defense and motivated post-play was enough to overcome their offensive flaws.

Power forward Juan Palacios and center David Padgett contributed 15 first-half points. They held their interior counterparts, Kendall and Gray, to a mere six points – all from Gray – despite each man being an inch taller than his assignment. In all, Louisville got 22 of its 36 first-half points in the paint.

Kendall and Gray also accumulated three and two personal fouls, respectively, during the first 20 minutes. While it may not seem like much, these factored heavily later in the game as the Panthers were forced to play a small lineup to keep their big men from fouling out.

Despite losing their post presence for much of the second half, the Panthers’ play was markedly improved in the second half, but their deficit was far too great to surmount.

Time will tell if the Panthers can recover, with a week to lick their wounds before hosting bubble-team Washington Saturday at 2 p.m.