Pitt lost for the what seems to be the umpteenth time to a lower seeded team. They play with a lot of heart but what it comes down to is that they didn't have the talent that Xavier did. Jordan Crawford, of dunking on Lebron James youtube fame, was the best player on the court and Pitt had no answer for him. He is a surefire NBA player and he was, at times, unstoppable. Pitt has one NBA prospect, Dante Taylor. Taylor, who despite being a Mcdonalds All American, struggled through most of the year, but did show signs of promise late. An offseason in the weight room and he should be a good Big East player next season. However, it doesn't change the fact that Pitt simply did not have the horses for this one.
Pitt held its last lead early in the first half and were never able to recover from the 16-0 run that Xavier went on. Twice, Xavier extended their lead to 13 and the Panthers were unable to stage a comeback despite a valient effort. Pitt was never able to catch a break in this game. Every bounce seemed to go Xavier's way. Pitt would block a shot, it'd dribble out to an open player for 3. Circus shot by Xavier...goes in. It just wasn't in the cards as they would lose 71-68.
I have to say, for all his defensive prowess, I'm glad to finally see Jermaine Dixon leave the program. Too many times he shoots threes when he hits less than 20% and puts up wild circus shots. Ashton Gibbs, arguably the teams best player, is stuck having to run the point instead of getting open looks. Your best shooter needs to play shooting guard. It's CALLED SHOOTING GUARD, you have to be able to FUCKING SHOOT. Gibbs forced too many shots tonight and was just plain was off his game. He did keep Pitt in the game in the first half but 19 points on 16 shots is way too erratic and inneficient. Gary McGhee had 4 rebounds and zero points. At times, he looked like last year's McGhee, failing to grab loose balls and rebounds while committing silly fouls. It wasn't all bad though. Brad Wanamaker, of Roman Catholic fame, had a good all around game. While he shot a poor 5-13, he did have a double double in that he pulled down 10 rebounds. He also dished out 5 assists and continues to be a playmaker from the forward spot for Pitt. Travon Woodall, who looked like a wasted scholarship at points this season, dished out 5 assists in just 17 minutes of play. Losing Dixon and the waste that was Chase Adams will not hurt this club next season. They will also benefit from having a true point guard next season in 4 star recruit Isaiah Epps.
Lastly, before closing the book on what was essentially a succesful season for Pitt, I would like to point out a few things. Pitt overachieved. They were picked 9th in the Big East and finished second. This is a testament to the hard work of the players and ability of Jamie Dixon to get the most out of his talent. However, since Pitt's resurgance in college basketball in 2002, they have NEVER beaten a higher seed in the tournament and have blown some really good oppurtunities when losing to lower seeds. For example:
- 2002 - A 3 seed, Pitt beat 14th seeded Central Connecticut State and 6th seeded Cal to advance to the sweet 16. There, they played 10th seeded Kent State who had just taken out 2nd seeded Alabama. Pitt would lose in overtime to KSU, blowing what would be a chance to be the favorite in the Elite 8 against 5th seeded Indiana. This would have been a great chance to get to the final four, but they were upset by a team seeded 7 spots lower which just so happened to have Antonio Gates on the team.
- 2003 - A 2 seed, Pitt beat 15th seeded Wagner and 7th seeded Indiana. However, they would lose to 3rd seeded Marquette, another loss to a lower seed. This one was to Dwayne Wade who was basically unstoppable. What makes this even worse was the top seeded Kentucky lost their best player, Keith Bogans to injury, and Marquette killed them. Pitt would most likely have done the same.
- 2004 - Pitt would beat 14th seeded Central Florida and 6th seeded Wisconsin, in Wisconsin. This year, Pitt lost to a better, 2nd seeded Oklahoma State team who lost by 2 points to Georgia Tech in the final four.
- 2005 - Probably the worst of the Pitt teams during this 9 year run of success, the 9th seeded Panthers lost to 8th seeded Pacific.
- 2006 - 5th seeded Pittsburgh would fall victim to an upset again. As a 5 seed, they beat 12th seeded Kent State in the first round and avoided a second round matchup with Kansas when 13th seeded Bradley advanced. You can guess what happened here, Pitt lost and never got a chance to move onto the sweet 16 to meet top seeded Memphis.
- 2007 - 3rd seeded Pitt actually did the best they could here. They beat 14th seeded Wright State in the first round and 11th seeded VCU, led by Eric Maynor, on St. Patricks day. They would lose to former coach Ben Howland and the 2nd seeded UCLA Bruins in the sweet 16. UCLA would go on to make the final four.
- 2008 - 4th seeded Pitt, the hottest team entering the tournament after winning the Big East tournament, would beat 13th seeded Oral Roberts in the first round but lose to 5th seeded Michigan State in the Elite 8.
- 2009 - Easily the best Pitt team of their recent 9 year run, this team was the top seed in its bracket and had 2 future NBA draft picks in DeJuan Blair and Sam Young. This team was both the first Pitt team in history to be ranked #1 as well as the first Pitt team to beat a #1 ranked team. They would accomplish both of these feats TWICE during the season. They beat 16th seeded East Tennessee State (although only by 10), 8th seeded Oklahoma State, and 4th seeded Xavier to get to the Elite 8. However, they would lose 3rd seeded Villanova in what might be, despite the loss, one of the best college basketball games of the century.
- 2010 - Pitt, seeded 3rd, would handle 14th seeded Oakland in the first round only to fall victim to 6th seeded Xavier in round 2
So if you break it down, Pitt has not only failed to beat a higher seeded team in its 9 year run, they also have lost to a lower seed in 6 of the 9 years they made the tournament. This is a pattern they need to break if they are going to take the next step in both the tournament and recruiting.
Written by:
