** I thought trying to make sense of this game is going to be a difficult task. After all, it was one of the stranger Pitt contests I’ve ever watched.
** I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a 16-0 lead to start the game erased within the first half followed by a 20 point lead knocked down to 4 in the second half.
** And who else would have predicted that we wouldn’t even see Johnson or Lykes at all for the second half of the second period?
** But then, if one ignores the runs and the point guard minutes, the final box score of the game tells a fairly typical tale.
** At the end of this one, an 8 point loss at Miami seems about right for the Panthers at this point.
** It also seems about right that when we shoot 36% from the floor and 3-16 from three, that we are going to score in the 50’s. That’s not enough.
** That’s the story to this game in my opinion. One could look at many reasons why we lost. Deficits, turnovers, bad shots, and getting stops in the final minutes -- they all mattered. But the one that mattered most is the simplest and most obvious. We just can’t hit enough shots.
** Before looking further into that reality, let give some real credit where credit is due. Terrell Brown and Au’Diese Toney both played really, really well.
** AD scrapped and fought during every second he was on the court. He made a couple of plays that displayed a certain sense of desperation for the Panther win.
** And when did Terrell become such a stellar finisher in the paint?
** Those two made up the Panther bench contributions for the day. The starters shot a combined 12-51 from the floor. That’s 23.5% for those who don’t want to do the math. That’s how a team loses.
** Sure, I would have liked to see what would have happened had Trey had passed to Ryan open on the wing when the Panthers were only down four at the five minute mark. Instead, Trey over penetrated and made a terrible pass out for a turnover and an easy Miami bucket.
** In fact, it wasn’t just a turnover. It was the turning point.
** But to completely see it as such, it means an assumption that Ryan’s going to hit that shot. And it’s not as if Ryan was sizzling with his jump shot.
** Trey made another play down the stretch when he took it himself when looking for others. He does that too often, but I find it hard to call out Trey to loudly. With his 18 points and 7 assists, Trey’s efforts resulted in 33 Panther points, well over half of our output.
** Trey shot a not-very-good 6-16 from the floor. That means a dismal 6-35 from Champagnie, Johnson, Murphy and Hamilton.
** I just don’t know what to say about Justin. He’s started out other games this year but missing chunks of jump shots, only to hit some that really mattered down the stretch. But 3-16 really hurt the team today. We need him to be an aggressive scorer. But he also needs to learn how to pass. He’s got just 7 assists all season long.
** I’ll lay off Xavier. My only comment is that Coach Capel made the right substitutions in the final 14 minutes of the game.
** And I’ll lay off the Panthers from for any further criticism. This isn’t a bad loss. But it also feels a little like something of a lost opportunity.
** For the Panthers to make anything out of this season, they are running out of opportunities to lose.
