SMU crushed Pitt 83-63 on Tuesday night at Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs improved to 19-5 (10-3) on the year, and continue to make a march towards making the NCAA Tournament in their first year as members of the ACC. Four SMU players finished with double figures Samet Yigitoglu and Kario Oquendo each totaling 17 points in the victory.
As for the Panthers, the loss extended their losing streak to four games. Pitt is now 14-10 overall this season with a 5-8 mark in conference play. Jeff Capel’s club is now 2-8 over its last ten games.
The game for Pitt followed a similar theme as other recent losses, with the Panthers falling behind double digits early and having a tough time trying to climb out of a hole. SMU took a 23-13 lead at the 11:59 mark of the first half, and the advantage stayed above double digits for the remainder of the game.
The Panthers were led by Guillermo Diaz Graham, who topped the team with 15 points and eight rebounds in 32 minutes, before fouling out at the end of the game. Brandin Cummings added 12 off the bench, while Ishmael Leggett also notched double figures with 10 points.
Pitt trailed by 43-27 at the break, and the Panthers largely stayed within that number for much of the second half. While Pitt showed fight, the Mustangs largely kept them at arm’s length anyway. SMU entered the game as the ACC’s top scoring and three-point shooting team, and connected on shots when needed. The Mustangs were 10-of-20 from deep for the game.
Double-digits
Over this ten-game downward spiral, Pitt has managed to find itself trailing by double digits in six of those games…in the first half. It is becoming an all too comfortable trend for this team to simply fall behind so big, so early. In some games, Pitt has the ability to find its footing, but on Tuesday SMU did just enough, and the Panthers’ own mistakes, were plenty to keep this one over 10 points for most of the game.
Out-muscled
Another trend in this recent stretch of games is Pitt constantly getting out-rebounded. It happened again, as SMU won that battle 40-35. This is now the seventh time over the past 10 games Pitt has lost in that department. It was not as pronounced as other games, and actually Pitt led 21-20 at halftime, but still managed to come out on the wrong end.
Pitt was bullied inside offensively, however. The Mustangs outscored Pitt 38-18 with points in the paint, as SMU leaned on Yigitoglu at times, with Pitt not having much answer for the 7’2” freshman.
Down goes Lowe
Lowe essentially took a pretty significant blow to the jaw it appeared. He collided with SMU’s Boopie Miller on the sideline, and looked like he was going to try to play through it, but checked out of the game at the 11:40 mark and never returned. Lowe finished with only nine points, five assists, and five turnovers as his personal on-court struggles continued.
Leggett’s struggles continue
For the most part, Ishmael Leggett has maintained his individual production this year, but for the fourth time in five games, he shot below 33%. SMU bottled up Leggett and held him to 5-of-17 from the field. The Panthers’ senior guard missed all eight of his three-point attempts as well. This follows a 3-10 game against North Carolina on Saturday. He still got to double figures, but he missed more shots than he had points…
‘New’ look lineup
Pitt returned to the starting five that featured Lowe, Leggett, Zack Austin, Guillermo Diaz Graham, and Cam Corhen. That of course was in response to Damian Dunn’s injury. The Panthers played a month without Dunn previously, so it was nothing new. No Dunn, and some early foul trouble, and then the injury to Lowe forced Capel into his bench early and often. Papa Amadou Kante, Brandin Cummings, Jorge Diaz Graham, and Amsel Delalic all got on the floor in this one. Cummings made the most of his minutes with 12 points.
The reality of the situation
The numbers and metrics suggested Tuesday’s game between SMU and Pitt was a bubble game, but we’re to the point where NCAA Tournament conversations are no longer relevant for the Panthers. This team has flushed that opportunity away at this stage. Pitt will be favored and will win a couple games down the stretch, but any path towards making the Big Dance now simply has to be winning the ACC Tournament. The bubble has burst, so to speak.
What’s next
Pitt will be back home on Saturday to host Miami for a noon tip at the Petersen Events Center. The game will be carried on ESPN2. The Hurricanes are 6-18 on the season and just 2-11 in the ACC, but did defeat Syracuse 91-84 on Tuesday.
