Pitt might’ve strayed from its usual formula once or twice on Friday, but its typical deficiencies cost it the tournament.
In an absurdly slow-paced contest Friday, the team fell to the Wisconsin Badgers 47-43, closing Pitt’s season at 21-12. The game had all the markings of a routine loss for Pitt, but with a few distinct offshoots from the season norm.
Typically, Pitt’s weaknesses have been rooted in its poor defensive performance. Throughout the season, the team struggled to execute its traditional man-to-man defense. Head coach Jamie Dixon mixed in some zone and press defense, but nothing seemed to work for his team for most of the season.
Nearly start to finish though on Friday, Dixon’s defense stifled the Badgers. The Panthers played physically and they played intelligently. They were exactly what they hadn’t been all season.
The game plan focused on limiting Wisconsin’s leading scorer, forward Nigel Hayes. Pitt held Hayes, who averaged 16.2 points this season, to 12 points on 3-17 shooting. All game, Pitt neutralized Hayes, who struggled to find clean shots. Wisconsin, as a team, shot just 32.1 percent from the field.
But the Badgers were lucky because Pitt’s offense struggled too, shooting 37.5 percent.
Outside of forwards Jamel Artis and Sheldon Jeter, no Panther player could find a rhythm offensively. The pace was lethargic, and Wisconsin’s defense was decent, but the shots were there for Pitt.
This is where the loss was much like other Pitt losses.
Pitt was afforded more than enough open jumpers and decent shots at the rim to win the game, but failed to connect.
Executing Dixon’s offense and subsequently generating open looks were seldom a problem for the Panthers this season. Pitt found opportunities, but struggled to convert good looks into points.
No player better exemplifies that problem than senior point guard James Robinson. Robinson, a pass-first point guard, typically tends to only take shots if they’re open.
Problem is, Robinson misses more of those open shots than he makes.
Against Wisconsin, Robinson shot 3-15 from the field, most of which were open jump shots.
Pitt looked good early on, jumping to a 13-3 lead, eventually stretching the deficit to 12 with seven minutes remaining in the first half. Considering both team’s laborious pace offensively, Pitt seemed poised to win the game.
But Pitt did the inconceivable. Despite leading by double-digits for four straight minutes in the first half in a game where less than 100 total points were scored, Pitt lost.
Pitt’s eventual loss is most directly related to the minutes following the team’s 12-point lead. Given numerous open shots and a chance to step on the throat of the Badgers, the Panthers faltered. Instead, Wisconsin cut the deficit to six going into half.
With the momentum on its side, Wisconsin eventually gained the lead four minutes into the second half. The game would stay close the rest of the way, and Robinson would have a chance to win the game with a layup with seconds remaining, but he missed it.
When Pitt needed a shotmaker, someone who could secure the game when the team led or to curb Wisconsin’s momentum, it had no one to look to — a problem the team has dealt with for most of Dixon’s tenure.
Pitt’s lack of a go-to player is a significant reason why the program has faced early exits in March, having not made a Sweet 16 since 2009.
Following the loss, a contingent of Pitt fans on social media voiced their desire for Dixon to move on from the job or to be fired. A recent report from CBS Sports stating that Dixon is mulling an offer from TCU, might mean their wish is granted.
The report, which will play out over the next several days, seems genuine. TCU is Dixon’s alma mater, and though such reports usually stem from an agent floating the name with hopes of an extension, that angle isn’t probable based on Dixon’s recent results.
Some fans would be happy to see him go after his tournament struggles, while others wouldn’t, given his ability to get there in the first place —11 out 13 times in his tenure. But this debate wouldn’t exist had Pitt kept up its defense and sufficient shotmaking Friday.
An abrupt end to any lingering tournament hopes, followed by yet another re-hashing of Pitt’s most pressing faults, left Pitt fans with what’s become a yearly March tradition: bitter disappointment.