Pitt at Notre Dame Takeaways: Panthers Fail to Meet Moment

The Pitt Panthers did not match their opponents' energy and fell in embarrassing fashion.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers failed to shoot and defend while suffering one of their worst losses of the season. Notre Dame, playing with fire fueled by their head coach's final home game, delivered a vintage offensive performance, pouring on 10 3-pointers, nearly 50% shooting from the field and an 88-81 victory that sent Mike Brey out as a winner in South Bend. 

The Panthers, meanwhile, will head home with their tails between their legs and needing a victory over Miami desperately this weekend so that they don't have to sweat out championship week and Selection Sunday. 

Defense Didn’t Travel

A week ago, following the win over Georgia Tech, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel called out his team's defense, saying the Panthers need to get back to basics and defend with more intensity. They took a step in the right direction when they downed Syracuse on Senior Night but took a major step back. 

Notre Dame shot 49% from the field, 37% from deep and 84% from the free throw line. They looked comfortable all night long and were able to exploit matchups easily to the tune of 1.275 points per possession. Pitt tightened up toward the end of the game, when they made a run at the large deficit, but it was too little too late. Federiko Federiko - typically a stout defender, even when switched onto guards - was hunted and by the Irish backcourt, which found it easy to get by him and score. 

Pitt has never been a fantastic defensive team this season, but the current state of their play on that end is worrisome as the regular season comes to a close and the postseason heats up. 

Unable to Capitalize

Oddly enough, Pitt had every opportunity to get themselves back in the game and even take leads. But the Panthers missed 10 of 23 layups, 15 3-pointers and 16 free throws in an eight-point loss. It wouldn't have even taken a spectacular shooting night - just a below-average one instead of an abysmal one - for the Panthers to have escaped with a win. Even if they had been able to convert their 16 offensive rebounds into more than just 12 second chance points, thy likely walk away victorious. 

On one hand, it is encouraging to know the problems are fixable. If Pitt shoots their season averages from the free throw line and 3-point range, they win that game. But it also exposes a massive flaw in this good team. If they are unable to make shots from outside, their offense struggles to overcome it. Opponents will notice that and try to exploit it.

S*** Happens

For as bad as that looked, it still only counts as one. Despite a brutal loss, the Panthers still control their own destiny in pursuit of the top seed in the ACC Tournament and an NCAA Tournament berth. 

I don't mean to undersell the depths of how bad that loss was - it wasn't good purely from a basketball standpoint - but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't disastrous. Yes, they have made things much more difficult on themselves by letting what should have been an easy win slip through their fingers. No, it did not end their season or any hope of an NCAA Tournament bid. 

This team will be fine. They get at least two more opportunities to grab a crucial win - one that might send them to the postseason's biggest event - and need no help to achieve what they have been fighting for all year. 

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