Final-minute losses not getting easier

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – For the second time in a little more than a week, the outcome of 40… SOUTH BEND, Ind. – For the second time in a little more than a week, the outcome of 40 minutes of Pitt basketball came down to the final minute.

After Brandin Knight drilled his first field goal of the day, a three-pointer to tie Pitt’s contest with Notre Dame at 64, Chris Thomas and the Fighting Irish marched down the floor with less than 30 seconds on the clock.

Facing off against Knight, Thomas dribbled the ball just beyond the top of the key, holding it for the final shot.

As the clock hit 10 seconds, Thomas made his move, driving down the middle of the lane, with Knight keeping with him step for step.

Knight was able to keep Thomas from getting a good shot, but Thomas still had room to find Torin Francis on the right block by himself.

“There was no reason to help, he just got it in,” Knight said, referring to Francis’ shot. “I can’t think how that guy got that open of a look with time winding down.”

Francis, who moved from the left block to the right when he saw Thomas penetrate, had no trouble hitting from right underneath the basket. Notre Dame took a 66-64 lead, leaving Pitt just sixth tenths of a second left in the game.

“I saw he wouldn’t have a good shot and I saw the ball coming and I caught it,” Francis said. “There were a lot of bodies in the way, but I knew I had a lot of time.”

Even though they had a chance to win at the end, this was still a game that the Panthers should have walked away from with a win, according to Julius Page.

“We didn’t do the little things,” Page said about Pitt’s second-half collapse. “We had the game.”

For the fourth game in a row, the Panthers blew a double-digit lead in the second half. After winning 14 of its first 15 games, Pitt is just 2-2 over the last four.

With 18:44 left in the game, Jaron Brown’s fast break layup put Pitt up 45-35. But the Irish, sparked by two Matt Carroll three-pointers, went on a 9-0 run to cut the Panthers’ lead to just one.

Pitt regained its composure with a 7-2 run over the next three minutes to build the lead back up to six points. But again, the Panthers were unable to hold on.

The Fighting Irish closed the gap again, scoring the next seven points and taking a 53-52 lead with 10 minutes left. The lead was Notre Dame’s first since it lead 7-5 with 15:20 left in the first half.

“We gave one away,” Knight said of the loss.

On Jan. 25, Pitt lost a double-digit lead in a one-point win over Georgetown. The Panthers weren’t as lucky the following week against Syracuse, blowing a 12-point halftime lead before losing, 67-65.

Against Providence on Tuesday, the Friars came back from a 45-31 second-half deficit, but Pitt was able to hold on down the stretch for a 68-61 win.

“It’s a lack of focus,” Page said about Pitt’s recent tendency to let teams back into games. “With us being on the road, it’s tough to win. We’ve got to grow up and learn how to play [smarter]. Nobody’s going to lay down [because we’re Pitt].”