Pitt loses to UConn, 61-58

NEW YORK — Facing the prospect of losing for the third time in their last four meetings with… NEW YORK — Facing the prospect of losing for the third time in their last four meetings with the Pitt men’s basketball team, the Connecticut Huskies handed the ball to Ben Gordon.

Gordon, the Big East Tournament’s Most Valuable Player and the game’s leading scorer with 23 points, scored nine points during the final 4:30 of the tournament’s championship game in then-No. 9-ranked UConn’s 61-58 victory before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

“I think we made some mistakes,” Pitt guard Carl Krauser said. “I just credit the UConn team for getting the loose balls and rebounding the ball well down the stretch.”

With 6:26 left in the game, Gordon and the Huskies (27-6 overall, 12-4 Big East) went on a run that ensured they would not lose their second Big East Tournament Championship in a row to the Panthers. UConn lost both meetings with the Panthers last season, including last year’s Big East Tournament Championship game, and split with the Panthers this regular season.

Then-No. 6-ranked Pitt (29-4, 13-3) was ahead 51-44 when Husky forward Rashad Anderson nailed a three-pointer to cut the Panthers’ lead to 51-47. On UConn’s next possession, Pitt guard Julius Page was able to strip Husky guard Taliek Brown and race down the court to throw down two points, putting the Panthers ahead by six.

Gordon was fouled on the ensuing possession and knocked down two shots from the charity stripe. Panther center Chris Taft, Pitt’s leading scorer with 11 points, answered at the other end by hitting both of his foul shots to make the score 55-49.

Pitt’s lead remained at six until UConn center Emeka Okafor made a layup to cut the Panthers’ lead to 55-51. The Panthers were unable to score on their next possession, and Gordon dealt Pitt a blow that it appeared not to recover from.

As the shot clock wound down, Gordon attempted a jumper. Page was able to block the attempted shot, but deflected it right back to Gordon. Gordon quickly reset himself and nailed a three pointer over a leaping Page to cut Pitt’s lead to one.

“[The Huskies] got the loose ball at the end and got a three,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “[It] just didn’t seem like we got the loose balls at the end.

Pitt forward Chevon Troutman was fouled during the Panthers’ next possession, but was only able to hit one of his two free throws, putting the Panthers ahead 56-54. On UConn’s next possession, Anderson struck again, nailing a basket from downtown to give the Huskies their first lead since they led 15-14 with just over 9:30 left in the first half.

Panther forward Mark McCarroll was able to give the lead back to Pitt with a basket that gave it a brief 58-57 lead. But on the Huskies’ next possession, Gordon dealt the Panthers a knockout punch, driving the paint and floating in a basket over Page, Troutman and McCarroll as they converged on him in the lane. The basket gave UConn a 59-58 lead.

“I thought Julius [Page] did a great job [on Gordon],” Dixon said. “With the stuff they run for him, Gordon is going to get his points.”

After a Pitt timeout, McCarroll was forced to take what appeared to be the final shot as he jumped on Krauser’s blocked shot — blocked by UConn’s Josh Boone. McCarroll’s shot rattled out and, Pitt lost the battle for the rebound, but after a premature celebration by the Huskies, it was determined that Gordon had been fouled with 0.5 seconds left on the clock.

Gordon hit both foul shots, which put UConn ahead 61-58. Panther forward Jaron Brown, who in bounded the ball, launched a pass three quarters of the way down the court to a wide-open Page. He was not behind the three-point arc and Brown’s throw pulled him further away from the three-point line. Page threw up a desperation shot which rattled in and out of the basket to end the game.

Pitt began the game by falling behind 13-2 in the first half. But it used a 12-0 run to take its first lead of the game. Brown, who had 10 points and seven steals, began the run when he intercepted a pass and beat an UConn defender down the floor for a bucket. Krauser was fouled on Pitt’s next possession and made both of his shots from the charity stripe.

Panther center Toree Morris slam-dunked the ball off of an assist from Brown to cut the Huskies’ lead to 13-8. Krauser hooked up with McCarroll for an alley-oop on Pitt’s next possession to bring it within three points.

Brown came up with another steal and brought the Panthers within one, and McCarroll gave Pitt its first lead at 14-13 with a jumper. Okafor put UConn back ahead by one with a baseline jumper, but Taft used a spin move to hit a hook shot over Okafor to put the Panthers ahead 16-15. Pitt outscored the Huskies for the remainder of the first half, 18-10, and led at halftime, 34-25.

“I’m very proud of how our guys responded,” Dixon said. “We knew it was going to come down to a close game. [It] was not a surprise [that] it was a close game to the end.”