Glaring weakness exposed in loss to UConn

Well Pitt fans, you knew that Pitt’s undefeated streak had to come to an end some time…. Well Pitt fans, you knew that Pitt’s undefeated streak had to come to an end some time.

The No. 8 Panthers’ winning streak, which reached 18 games, ended with a 68-65 loss at Connecticut last night. In less than a month, UConn and Pitt will face-off again at the Petersen Events Center.

The Feb. 15 matchup date gives the Panthers plenty of opportunity to make some adjustments, because there were some weaknesses exposed in the loss. A glaring weakness is Pitt’s lack of productive big men.

Maybe Pitt has been spoiled this season with having freshman Chris Taft as its center. Taft is 6-feet-10-inches whereas, last year, starting center Ontario Lett was only 6-feet-6-inches.

Forward Chevon Troutman is a viable option at 6-feet-7-inches, but ideally Taft and Troutman should be on the floor at the same time. This presents the problem of replacing Taft with somebody off the bench. Or vice versa.

Forward Mark McCarroll has seen a lot of minutes and is actually the tallest player on the team at 6-feet-11-inches. The problem is that he is not a wide body. McCarroll tips the scales at 220 pounds. To give you an idea of his lack of size, center Toree Morris is an inch shorter, but weighs 282 pounds.

Huskie center Emeka Okafor is 6-feet-10-inches and turned in a dominant performance in the first half with nine points. He was able to hit several shots, which Troutman, who guarded him for a good portion of the game, was unable to stop. He was held to two second-half points, but was able to grab seven boards in the game.

When Troutman and Taft left the floor there was an obvious void as UConn went up 20-10 in the first half. Pitt has been flirting with danger too often lately. It cannot afford to spot a team like UConn a 10-point lead.

There were still issues when Pitt’s big men were on the floor as Pitt actually out-rebounded UConn 37-30, but down a crucial stretch of the game, the Huskies were able to come up with key rebounds.

At times it appeared as if nobody was crashing the boards for the Panthers, especially on the defensive end. UConn was able to grab more offensive rebounds than the Panthers as it recorded 19 compared to Pitt’s 17.

There was even a point when Pitt’s defense forced a missed shot only to have Okafor slam the ball through the hole.

Another problem was the number of points Pitt gave up in the paint. The Panthers recorded 24 points in the paint, but yielded 34. There were too many uncontested layups or slam dunks by the Huskies. Pitt must step up its inside game on defense in order to beat UConn when it comes to the Pete.

The Panthers also were lackadaisical at times. On a few occasions, a Huskie was able to get behind Pitt’s defense and convert a long pass for an easy basket. Pitt gave up 10 fast break points in the contest.

On offense, the Panthers turned the ball over nine times in the first half, but settled down in the second half. The first half featured bad passes and overall sloppy play. Pitt took care of the ball much better in the second half, only committing three turnovers.

There are a lot of positives in this loss. Seniors stepped up and showed veteran leadership especially when Pitt was able to regain the lead. With the Huskies ahead 52-51, guard Carl Krauser stole the ball and passed to guard Jaron Brown. Instead of Brown taking a risky shot, he slowed the pace down and was able to give guard Julius Page a better look. As a result, Page was able to nail a three-pointer and give Pitt the lead.

UConn is a very tough place to play, and the Panthers were able to stay focused enough to erase a large deficit on the road to a team that many seem to feel is the best in college basketball. Pitt’s performance on the road was a big question mark going into last night’s game. Its ability to bounce back at Syracuse, which is another tough environment, will be a great barometer for the rest of the season.

Kevin Nash is the assistant sports editor for The Pitt News.