After a dominant performance earlier this week, Pitt reverted back to their old ways (well, old in terms of the 2011-12 season) and was soundly defeated at UConn, falling 74-65.
For Pitt, it was the same old story as they suffered their 15th loss on the season. That was largely the result of many of the same problems creeping up. Ashton Gibbs again had a difficult day shooting the ball, making only five of his 15 shots. And after a big game against St. John’s on Wednesday, Dante Taylor played more typical of what we’ve seen this year. In 28 minutes of action, Taylor went scoreless and had only four rebounds.
Taylor’s game was particularly frustrating. He only had two shots all game and couldn’t get involved in the offense at all. That normally might not be a huge deal, but he’s got to do more with all of those minutes. The problem is, though, that Pitt’s other big men didn’t produce as well. Talib Zanna and Malcolm Gilbert played 19 minutes, but only combined for four points and six rebounds. Ever since Khem Birch transferred out of the program, the frontcourt has been even thinner than expected.
One bright spot for the team was the continued play of sophomore J.J. Moore. Moore was expected to be a big part of the Panthers’ offense this season, but that wasn’t the case through much of it. However, led Pitt with 16 on Saturday and has averaged nearly that many over the team’s past five contests.
Pitt will go into the Big East tournament as a low seed and barring a conference championship run, the team will likely be headed to the NIT or maybe even the CBI tournament.
It’s safe to say this season hasn’t gone as expected.
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