Comeback kids can’t pull one out this time

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Pitt found itself in basketball’s version of the 2-minute drill and then… VILLANOVA, Pa. — Pitt found itself in basketball’s version of the 2-minute drill and then some on Sunday as time wore down in their 80-72 loss to the No. 25 Villanova Wildcats.

For most teams, being in this position would erase thoughts of a victory, but Pitt has grown accustomed to the thrilling finish after fighting back from 17-point deficits earlier this year against both Connecticut and Syracuse.

Just as they did the other times, the Panthers (18-5 overall, 8-4 Big East) sat behind their point guard Carl Krauser and attempted a comeback against the upset-minded Wildcats, a comeback that would have pushed hopes of another Big East regular season championship even higher.

But unlike those other times, Pitt found itself at the end of the game in a situation it wasn’t used to: being just a little bit short.

“We had opportunities, but we didn’t do what we needed to do. We had some good things, but we came up short in a few areas and lost to a pretty good team,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said.

Despite having its lead cut to three points late in the game, Villanova was able to hold off the Panthers for one of its biggest wins of the season in The Pavilion. The win left Villanova students chanting, “We want B.C.,” in reference to the Wildcats upcoming showdown with the first-place Boston College Eagles.

“We wanted to prove to ourselves that we could do this today,” Villanova head coach Jay Wright said of the victory. “We were able to do that today, and now we’ll get to prove ourselves all over again Wednesday against Boston College.”

Using the three-point shot to their advantage, Villanova stretched itself to a 13-point lead, at 71-58, with 5:40 left to play in the second half.

Down 13, it was now or never for Pitt’s toughness to step in and take control of a game that it was letting slip away.

Senior Chevon Troutman began by muscling his way underneath to draw a couple of fouls. Troutman connected on three of four free throws to cut Villanova’s lead to 10.

The defense generated its first of two steals in the final minutes when Krauser swiped the ball away from Mike Nardi and looked up to find Chris Taft streaking down the court for a fast-break dunk.

“We thought we were still going to win. It didn’t matter how many points we were down, because we always make it a tight game at the end,” Troutman said.

After one free throw by Krauser, Pitt went into a full-court press that led to a steal at halfcourt by Ronald Ramon.

Krauser then took the ball at the top of the key with an open look at the 3-point line, but pump-faked to get Curtis Sumpter in the air and drew the three-shot foul.

His first free throw bounced off the back of the rim, but he was able to sink the next two. Krauser found himself at the line again the next time down the court, hitting two free throws to cut the Wildcat lead to just three.

“We never thought it was over,” Wright said of Pitt’s late surge. “Very good basketball teams do that, they come back. We weren’t surprised by what happened down the stretch.”

Three points, though, was as close at Pitt would get as Villanova’s Allan Ray hit a jumper in the lane while getting fouled to end Pitt’s 10-0 run.

“They made big shots,” Krauser said. “Randy Foye, Allen Ray, all those guys. They all made tough shots in the first and second half.”

Ray’s old-fashioned, three-point play increased Villanova’s lead to six with less than one minute to play and put what would have been Pitt’s 19th victory just out of reach.

“We made some big plays and stuff, but you know, we just came up a little short,” Troutman said.