It was a devastating blow to see Pitt lose on a last second three to Virginia on February 2nd, but that is the madness of college basketball. Expect the unexpected.
It was not long ago when Pitt seemed to be the favorite against Duke at the Peterson Events Center, but they succumbed to a terrific shooting night by Duke, including a monster game from their standout freshman Jabari Parker.
With two consecutive losses in the ACC, Pitt’s not looking so good, but has pulled out of the slide with a motivational win against Miami. This shows that Pitt can win closely contested contests unlike their puzzling losses earlier this year.
With Pitt facing ACC opponents UNC and a rematch of the rivaled Syracuse, Pitt still can salvage their ACC matchups. If they can beat the top team in the country, they could skyrocket into the top ten in the polls, and can show they still have what it takes to win an ACC title.
It is also noteworthy to say that Lamar Patterson is still one of the top three players in the ACC, and is capable of lighting up the stat sheet any given game. Although Pitt only scored a poor 45 points against Virginia, they still proved that they can put up a fight even with a low scoring affair as well. The only problem is they have to play Pitt basketball, and they seemed to have lost that identity momentarily.
With the final stretch of the season in bloom, and Pitt still being ranked at 25 in the country, it shows that people still show high respect for the type of team Pitt is capable of being and how feared they are as a basketball powerhouse even without the household names that other basketball teams have.
Pitt has shown they can hang with the best in the now defunct Big East, and they have shown they can take down teams in the ACC with ease; now it is team to perform in the crunch time of games. Three of the four losses Pitt has had occurred with them losing in the final minute of the game, twice off last second shots. That’s what is separating them from being a top ten team in the country right now.
These rather bad plays down the stretch have marred Pitt this year, but are easily shakable. If Pitt rematches these opponents in the ACC tournament, they can show they know how to dominate the ACC.
It also seemed that Pitt struggled against an ailing Miami team, but Lamar Patterson played well, scoring 25 points in leading Pitt to an overtime win of the ‘Canes. Pitt is now 19-4 with a 7-3 ACC record.
It is just a rough patch that Pitt is going through, and they still have an excellent program led by a top tier head coach. Pitt is still a top team in the ACC, and they can prove that by still winning the title.