History should not repeat itself with new Pitt team

Tomorrow, Pitt will compete in the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1992-93… Tomorrow, Pitt will compete in the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 1992-93 season. Unlike the 1992-93 team, this year’s basketball team began the season with very few expectations and finished with the most wins in team history.

The 1992-93 team, which was lead by center Eric Mobley, went from high expectations at the beginning of the season to a miserable finish that almost left the team out of the tourney. That team’s season ended in a 86-65 first round loss to Utah. This article, written by Ryan Buncher, was printed in the March 22, 1993 issue.

They sat just inside the locker room, deep in the overheated bowels of Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium. There was a thin haze from the showers in the air.

Eric Mobley and Brian Brush patiently answered the questions of the few reporters who straggled in with a few last questions. Marlon Rhymes, after finally getting the playing time he had sought after so ardently, sat slouched, shaking his head.

“Another loss, just another loss,” Rhymes said.

The NCAA Tournament is the pinnacle of any college basketball team’s season. For Pitt, this was the end of a helpless slide from the heights of 12-2 and ranked 13th in the country to the depths of a 86-65 first-round burial at the hands of the Utah Utes.

While the Panthers did produce a better showing than they had during their disgraceful Big East Tournament, an ugly 55-50 loss to Syracuse, their efforts were not nearly enough.

They stumbled far too often, with a brick on a free throw attempt here and a key turnover there, to avoid being buried under an avalanche of three-point shots which the Utes mercilessly continued to drill.

“Their perimeter game was just too much for us. We didn’t match up real well,” Pitt head coach Paul Evans said as he pointed out that his interior players had to step out to defend Utah’s long-range shooters. “[Due to the threes] we had more field goals in the first half and were still down seven.”

The Utes drained eight of 14 three-point attempts in the first half, 11-of-20 for a scorching 55 percent for the game. They shot 51.7 percent from the floor on the night. Utah point guard Jimmy Soto occasionally slashed through the Pitt defense for a little variety, but the Utes did most of their damage from long range.

“You can’t stop that,” Rhymes said. “They would be out towards the NBA [three-point] line and they let it go; and it’s automatic. I would rather give up the shot from the NBA line than a layup any day. They were in a zone tonight.”

Despite prognostications to the contrary, Utah was not in a zone defense. The team used a man-to-man defense, but sagged in every time Pitt threw the ball inside. Panther center Mobley was able to power his way to 14 points, looking unstoppable at times, and power forward Chris McNeal chipped in 15 points, but Pitt was not able to fully take advantage of a strength advantage in the post.

Using good rotation, Utah was not able to stop the Panthers inside but was able to limit the damage enough to keep Pitt at a comfortable distance.

The Panthers stayed close in the first half by dominating the boards to the tune of a 27-11 edge. The margin slipped to only 18-17 in the second stanza as things totally unraveled for Pitt.

“In the first half, they kicked our behinds on the boards,” Utah forward Josh Grant said. “In the second half, I think we dug down a little bit and blocked some people out and let them get [only] one shot. I think that was the key.”

Another key was a lineup change by Evans. Rhymes, who had been buried on the bench for all but a few not-so-precious minutes over the last few weeks and not playing at all in the Syracuse debacle, suddenly found himself on the floor for 21 minutes in the NCAA Tournament.

“Going to the NCAA Tournament