I think one of the things to me that really stands out from the box score, for Pitt is the fact that no player took more than 9 shots. Yes, that was helped by the wide distribution of minutes, but it is still a positive thing to see the players willing to spread the ball around and share. There were 19 assists on the 29 scores. Everybody was involved in the game.
Pitt was able to outshoot Auburn by a margin of 16 (56-40 shot attempts) because Pitt was given so many second chance shots. Pitt had a +10 margin on the offensive rebounds (18-8). Pitt had the size and strength inside over Auburn, and exploited it.
I realize basketball at Auburn is not a high priority in terms of interest or coverage, but maybe they should keep an eye on the facts when writing stories.
Auburn flirted with one of its 10 worst losses in school history before a scoring spurt in the final four minutes saved the day. Still, it was the Tigers’ worst scoring performance since a 38-point effort against Mississippi State in 1982.
The Tigers started four freshmen against a veteran defensive-minded team that is now 53-5 in the four-year history of the building and boasts the fourth-best overall winning record in Division I basketball in the past four years.
Now I suppose by comparison Pitt could be considered “veteran,” but this wasn’t about experience. This was about talent, desire, and dare I say: a better coached team.
The best Auburn Coach Dave Lebo could tell his team afterwards is not to forget what happened.
“We had bad turnovers, bad decision-making,” Lebo said. “We just got physically manhandled. It was easy to see tonight.”
Lebo said Auburn young players need to learn from the experience.
“I told them after the game that this is our measuring stick,” Lebo said. “I told them not to forget how this felt. We need to get back into a practice atmosphere and try to get rid of the bad taste.”
And lots of practice it will be. Auburn is off until December 14. Coach Lebo is already talking about making sure his players remember being dominated inside as well.
“We played hard to the end, and I’m proud of that, but they were so much bigger than us and, from the time we tipped off, it was men playing against boys.
“The next time I get a funny look from one of my guys about going into the weight room, I’m just going to say the names Gray and Kendall to remind them of how we got pushed around, and I’m sure they will go in [the weight room] and have a new attitude about it.”
Next year, in Alabama.
For Pitt, this game was about defense first.
“It all started from our defense,” head coach Jamie Dixon said afterward. Guard Ronald Ramon echoed his sentiments.
“We came out with a lot of intensity,” he said. “Our defense was there from the beginning.”
…
Dixon complimented his team’s ability to give 100 percent in the face of such a huge lead, which grew as large as 48 in the second half.“[At halftime] I was really talking about coming out in the second half, that we needed to keep up the intensity,” he said.
The Panthers responded. The final twenty minutes saw more of the same. Auburn did score 26 points in the second half — compared with their 15 in the first half — but most of that total came by way of a 10-0 run in the last 2:28 after Dixon had pulled most of his starters.
Krauser admitted that the smothering defense was due in part to Dixon’s encouragement.
“Coach is just really stressing us about our defense,” he said. “We just wanted to go out there and play good D.”
During that final few minutes, both Charles Small and Marcus Bowman were out on the court to the delight of the fans.
If you want to look for things to note from the game, Levance Fields did not start. Ronald Ramon got the start instead, and provided 8 assists. No one treated it like a particularly big deal.
Pitt put the game away early, and as has been repeatedly stressed in every story, never let up. That is something new.
Last year, there were just too many games where Pitt either started or finished flat. Where they came out unprepared or lost focus or interest at the end. I have been quick to jump on Coach Dixon when the team has been that way, so I will give him credit for having the players ready and focused for 40 minutes. It is encouraging, and something that I want to see more of. I really, really want to see it next Saturday against Penn State, in person.
