Men’s Basketball: Pitt’s offensive woes fuel loss against Cincinnati

NEW YORK—After Pitt received the opening tip Tuesday night against Cincinnati, the Panthers witnessed a rather odd possession. Officials stopped play three times within the first 10 seconds because of issues with the game clock, drawing a host of boos from all in attendance who made the trek to Madison Square Garden to see the continuation of a now-extinct Big East rivalry.

As it turned out, this lack of offensive fluidity didn’t end after the team’s first possession, nor through the entirety of the game as the Panthers lost to the Bearcats 44-43. Pitt (10-1) lost its first game of the season to the Bearcats (8-2) who had lost two straight games before the evening’s contest.

“We didn’t play well and we didn’t deserve to win,” head coach Jamie Dixon said.

That may have been an understatement.  Over the course of the game, Pitt made only 11 field goals, marking the worst performance  for the program since 1939.

Fortunately for the Panthers, their 19 made free throws, compared to Cincinnati’s one, gave them an opportunity to take home a win in the final seconds of the Jimmy V. Classic.

With about 1:30 on the clock, redshirt junior guard Cam Wright scored on a layup, putting the Panthers ahead 43-42 and closing what had been a five point deficit. Pitt forced a stop on Cincinnati’s next possession, generating an opportunity for the Panthers to potentially extend their lead.

When redshirt senior forward Lamar Patterson went to the foul line for two shots, this seemed well within reach.

But Patterson, who entered the game shooting 77 percent from the foul line, missed both foul shots, giving Cincinnati the ball with about 20 seconds left on the clock.

“I took that under the chin  for the team,” Patterson said. “That was definitely on me.”

Patterson scored 11 points Tuesday, while senior center Talib Zanna led Pitt with 12 points. Justin Jackson scored 12 to lead Cincinnati.

But in the game it was Sean Kilpatrick, the Bearcats leading scorer, who scored seven points to stake Cincinnati to a late lead.

And on the game’s final play, Kilpatrick missed a shot on a drive to the basket, which was then  rebounded by forward Titus Rubles. Rubles flipped the ball in the basket for a 44-43 Bearcat edge with about four seconds left on the clock.

Dixon called a timeout  to draw up a final second play, but Wright, who received the inbounds pass, was unable to get free and was forced to launch a shot from halfcourt, which fell well short of the basket.

“We wanted to attack it with 4.2 seconds,” Dixon said. “There was not a lot of time and we wanted to draw someone and hopefully find an open man. We needed to be in a better position.”

Although the Panthers struggled mightily from the field, shooting only 31 percent, their poor rebounding was the deciding factor in Pitt’s first loss of 2013. Cincinnati out-rebounded Pitt 35-27, marking the first game in which the Panthers failed to outrebound their opponent this season.

“We are trying to improve on everything and we did some things better defensively,” Dixon said. “The rebounds is the thing; it’s hard to believe you can outrebounded that badly.”

Even for Wright, who has played at Pitt for three years, the performance was an anomaly.

“We just weren’t the same team today,” Wright said. “You hate to say it, but it was one of those days.”