Let’s face it, with NLI also, this is going to be a disjointed day with lots of posts all over the place.

Andy Katz at ESPN.com was at the game, and came away impressed by Rudy Gay — how could you not — but especially the Pitt team.

There are two stories here that deserve telling.

You can argue which two all you want. But walk away from top-ranked Connecticut’s gut-check 80-76 victory over No. 9 Pittsburgh on Tuesday night and you are left with two overriding thoughts:

UConn’s Rudy Gay was Rudy Gay, the player who was hyped as a preseason potential top pick and a possible player of the year.

And Pittsburgh’s relentlessness, its toughness and its overall will to win is unparalleled game in and game out, matched maybe only by Duke this season.
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How tough is it to play against Pitt?

Consider this: Pitt shot 2-of-20 on 3s, was outrebounded 40-29, had four players in foul trouble — including two foul-outs in senior point Carl Krauser (2:58 left) and junior forward Levon Kendall (51 seconds left) — and yet the Panthers were still one possession away from winning the game in the final minute.

Huh?

“We’re winners and we hate to lose, we don’t know how to lose,” Pitt junior center Aaron Gray said. “Coach [Jamie] Dixon is our leader and it starts with him. We never stop. We were down nine at halftime and we came out and got the first bucket. We never thought we were going to lose until that last buzzer went off.”
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UConn-Pitt hasn’t disappointed in years. This has been the game in the Big East schedule. They are more than rivals and have become the definition of the new Big East, making it seem like, as Calhoun said, the ’80s again. Unfortunately, because of the unbalanced schedule, this was the only meeting this season. Don’t be surprised if they meet again in March or even April.

Call it a hunch, but after this game, ESPN and CBS aren’t going to screw up and not want this match-up on their networks regardless of preseason predictions.

Pitt just couldn’t quite pull ahead in the second half.

As for that strange technical foul Coach Dixon received at the end of the half:

Pitt had a chance to cut into that lead just before the intermission, but Dixon was called for a technical foul while Pitt had a 3-on-1 fast break with three seconds remaining. Graves threw the ball out of bounds on an alley-oop attempt to Sam Young and referee Ed Corbett whistled Dixon, who was upset with Graves for throwing the errant pass. Corbett mistook Dixon’s rage as anger toward him and called the technical.

“I didn’t say anything bad, I know that,” Dixon said. “Sometimes that happens.”

Corbett made up for the mistake early in the second half and called a technical on Calhoun.

Given how quickly Calhoun was T’d up in the second half, you knew it had to be a make-up call.

Before the game, I said Pitt needed to knock down some 3s to loosen up the UConn defense and free-up Aaron Gray a little more. Not only didn’t that happen, but there was surprisingly little help for Gray on the boards. Part of that is attributable to the size and athleticism of UConn. Their guys are not only tall, but their jumping and control inside was something. The way they could go up for blocks and rebounds makes them that much tougher inside. If a team isn’t knocking down some outside shots against them, it allows them to further collapse inside. Limiting the penetration and clogging the passing lanes.

That’s what happened to Pitt. Gray with his sheer size was the only one who could be effective inside. Kendall, DeGroat and even Young had more trouble finding any space to get a clean shot over the UConn interior. Nine blocked shots. The only thing the players on the perimeter were able to do was some nice drives and penetration at times. Even then, however, the UConn defense often played it smart by refusing to be goaded into leaving their man free. Again, not letting the paint open up for Pitt.

Some numbers:

Pitt

Poss 75.6 Pace Fast
O-Rating 100.6 D-Rating 105.9 (Eff. Margin -5.3)
eFG% 45.5 PPWS 1.02
A/TO 1.3 TO Rate 15.9% A/B 51.7%
Floor Pct 51.3% FT Prod 24.2

UConn

Poss 75.3 Pace Fast
O-Rating 106.3 D-Rating 101.0 (Eff. Margin +5.3)
eFG% 50.0 PPWS 1.14
A/TO 0.8 TO Rate 21.3% A/B 48.1%
Floor Pct 52.8% FT Prod 42.9

One of the things that stands out is that UConn got Pitt to play at their pace. That was how Pitt ended up in so much foul trouble. Trying to grab a guy before he broke too far past. It isn’t often over the last few years that a team could get Pitt to play that quickly. That Pitt did as well as it did on the offense is encouraging. The problem, of course, was that it really hurt them on the defense. UConn got the ball upcourt so quickly and easily, that Pitt often seemed on its heels trying to get back on defense.

Pitt was also struggling to get the extra pass away for scoring. In both Pitt losses, the A/B % was in the 50s. No where close to the season average of around 68%.

Interestingly, while both teams went into the game with plenty of depth, it was Pitt — in part because of necessity — that really used its bench in this game. UConn had only 7 players go into double figures on minutes. Pitt went to 9 men.

To summarize, Pitt did not make 3s, were stifled on passing to find open looks, beaten soundly on the boards, had 2 players foul out of the game including Krauser, and played at UConn’s tempo. And yet the team, somehow, almost found a way to get the win.

I’m alternatively frustrated, amazed and impressed.