I really hate complaining after a win. Especially after a game I didn’t get to see or hear. I’m sorry, looking over the box score and play by play (PDF version here), though, and seeing the ticker go by as I watched some other games I have to vent a little first. This was very much like the Rutgers game only more extreme.

Pitt built a solid 10 point halftime lead. Took it up to 14 points with almost 14 minutes left in the second half. Then let the Pirates go on a 24-3 run, including 15 straight points. The Panthers found themselves looking at a 7 point deficit with 5:12 left! Thankfully, Troutman went on a tear to get 10 of Pitt’s next 15 points, and Seton Hall collapsed — getting only 5 points the rest of the way.

It just shouldn’t have come to that. Pitt had Seton Hall on the ground and should have stepped on their necks. Instead, they let the Pirates get back up and start taking swings. Pitt once more dropped their intensity levels. Just lost focus. Fell out of their game. Whatever you want to call it. Look at the numbers. During the 24-3 run that went from 13:43 to 5:12, an 8:31 stretch. Pitt:

• Committed 5 of its 13 Turnovers
• Committed 8 of its 21 Fouls
• Went only 1-3 on Free Throws
• Took only 6 shots, making only 1
• Grabbed only 4 Rebounds

You can’t just say Pitt went cold and/or Seton Hall got hot. Pitt got out of its game and stopped trying. I don’t know what to say. Coach Jamie Dixon has to do something to get this team playing a full 40 minute game. Something I don’t think they have done this season. He has to know that Seton Hall wasn’t just this:

“I think we had some turnovers and they made some shots. It was a combination of things. We have to recognize that it comes down to decisions. We knew they weren’t done and that they were going to battle back. That’s a part of Big East play and what we’re used to. They did a great job battling and competing and teaching us things that we need to get better on. We will continue to work on those things.”

As an added concern, Pitt continued to shoot poorly on Free Throws. 16-28 overall. Even Krauser, the best FT shooter went 5-9.

On the players:

Chevy Troutman went for 23 points on 9-14 shooting. Only 3 rebounds.

Chris Taft had a solid game 14 points (7-12), 7 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Carl Krauser was a mixed bag. He limited his shots to only 4 and made 2. He had 6 assists and 8 rebounds. The negatives, though, included th afforementiond FT shooting and 5 turnovers.

Mark McCarroll showed life in 13 minutes off the bench. Scoring 8 points on 3-5 shooting and 2-3 on FTs. He also grabbed 3 rebounds.

John DeGroat is either not ready for primetime or is pressing. In 5 second stretch he committed 2 fouls after missing 2 shot attempts. All of which happened during Pitt’s collapse. He was in for a total of 2 minutes.

Ronald Ramon played 36 minutes off the bench for Demetris and Graves. Only 1-5 shooting, but 3-3 on FTs (6 points). He did grab 5 rebounds and had 2 steals along with 2 assists. Ramon would seem to be the best fit so far on Pitt’s team from this recruiting class.

Antonio Graves played only 16 minutes, getting into foul trouble (4). He had 5 points on 2-5 shooting.

Yuri Demetris missed his only shot attempt, but did grab 6 rebounds in 21 minutes.

Aaron Gray needs to work on his free throws (2-5) and holding onto the ball — 2 turnovers. He played only 8 minutes.

For the game, Pitt shot 50% (24-48) and held Seton Hall to 40.4% (23-57). Pitt was helped by Seton Hall hitting only 6-14 FTs in the first half.

Pitt has a game on Tuesday at St. John’s, who they cannot afford to look past before the Saturday Night Showdown with UConn.

Lots of work needed.

Here’s the Pitt press release on the Cavanaugh hiring.

Newspaper articles building on press release are here and here.

Sorry, limited time today.

Two well-documented home losses at what once seemed like a place of invincibility, to teams Pitt was heavily favored to defeat, will change things. As first posted here courtesy of one of our spies readers, Pitt has put up signage for the Oakland Zoo. It also posted a line from a TV commercial that every team uses now.

Signs with life-size photo montages of the Oakland Zoo were installed around the corridor of the student entrance at Petersen Events Center.

Prominently displayed among the images of Pitt fans was the team motto: We Must Protect This House.
…
“We always talk about winning your home games and doing what we have to do,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “I’m sure our guys understand and have thought about it. They think about every loss. We haven’t had a lot of them, but we’ve had two and I’m sure that’s what’s on their mind.”

Winning at home is the overriding theme for this game, as most of Pittsburgh is likely treating this as something to watch in between commercials for extended pregame and tailgating for the Jets-Steelers playoff game at 4:30 pm. And it seems that the team has noticed some of the national doubting.

The fact that some doubt has mounted outside the program among the Pitt faithful is something that has not gone unnoticed by players.

Point guard Carl Krauser, coming off the worst game of his career at Rutgers, said the Panthers are taking an us-against-the-world mentality into the game.

“I’m looking forward to this game,” Krauser said. “A lot of people out there see the two losses. It’s like they don’t even see the 11 wins. A lot of people out there talk about the negatives and not the positives. We started off great. Then when we started losing and everyone was saying we were terrible. We don’t pay attention to any of that. We’ll stay together. We’re building a force field around our team.”

Not that Pirate faithful have total confidence in their team right now. The local coverage is lacking in part because of the Jets, I’m sure. But also because basketball in NJ as a whole is not exactly hot this season.

Not sure if I’ll be able to see or hear the game. Visiting the parents in Lebanon, Pennsylvania this weekend — part of the Penn State area so it seems likely the ESPN Regional game they show will be Michigan-Penn St. rather than Pitt. Plus, my parents are on dial-up so I can’t listen via the internet.

I have to believe Pitt will come out strong in this game. Don’t underestimate Seton Hall, though. They are desperate to show something. Anything. I expect something within single digits, but a Pitt win.