Man, this can be a surly bunch after a loss. I think there is a bit of underestimating what Bowman and Green did in the second half. They used their athleticism on offense to go inside and outside. They were able to draw Gray further out to the perimeter — spreading the floor. Hibbert only played 11 minutes in the second half as Georgetown went smaller but faster to pass and cut more.

Pitt attempted to answer, which was why Ramon played 16 of the 20 minutes in the second half. They needed him on defense more. That was part of the reason why Benjamin only saw 6 minutes of action in the second half. Ultimately that looks like a mistake because it took away one of the offensive threats Pitt had in the first half — a player capable of taking the ball inside more and keeping Georgetown from using the zone to minimize Gray.

Hopefully, everyone is calming down about the loss and basking in the glow of the Steelers win. Let’s start looking at the numbers and seeing what they tell us.

Pitt
Poss 61.8 Pace Moderate
O-Rating 93.9 D-Rating 98.8 (Eff. Margin -4.9)
eFG% 49.0 PPWS 1.04
A/TO 0.9 TO Rate 24.3% A/B 63.6%
Floor Pct 47.0% FT Prod 15.7

Georgetown
Poss 57.7 Pace Slow
O-Rating 105.7 D-Rating 100.5 (Eff. Margin +5.2)
eFG% 54.1 PPWS 1.12
A/TO 1.8 TO Rate 13.9% A/B 60.9%
Floor Pct 49.1% FT Prod 16.3

Now, what really differentiates the teams was on turnovers. Pitt committed 15 turnovers in the game to Georgetown’s 8. Missed opportunities. Almost 25% of Pitt’s opportunities resulted in giving up the ball without getting a shot.

A lot of the focus has to be on the second half, since Pitt blew the lead and the game then. Yes, Georgetown started making a run near the end of the half to cut the lead to a more manageable size, but Pitt scored a total of 14 points in the first 19:30 of the second half, before a 9 point flurry in the final 30 made it close.

14 points. 5-20 shooting, before that final 3-4 spree. This is what all players who saw time in the second half did in that 19:30 :

Gray 0-4
Krauser 1-5 (1-1 in final :30)
Kendall 0-2
Ramon 2-4 (1-2 in final :30)
Fields 1-4 (1-1 in final :30)
DeGroat 1-1
Benjamin, Young and Graves 0-0

That’s frickin’ ugly shooting. 13 of the shot attempts came from the guards.

Interesting to me was how the bench for Pitt got a lot shorter in the second half. Graves, the object of much ire, saw only 3 minutes of action in the second half. Fields, DeGroat and Young both saw nearly the same amount of time in both halves (all got 1 extra minute in the second versus the first). Biggs never got off of the bench. Ramon, Krauser, Gray and Kendall all played at least 15 minutes each.

Looking at this, and with a little more time to reflect, it is clear that Georgetown made better adjustments in the second half. At the same time, the players for G-town responded and executed much better. Pitt did make attempts to adjust, but did not execute. Gray did not respond well to the double teams, and players did not come to help. Pitt did not get aggressive against the zone, instead moved the ball on the perimeter. No penetration.

Right now, I have some real concerns about the way Pitt is playing on the road in the Big East. They just are not shooting well away from the Pete. That has to be a concern for the BE and NCAA Tournaments. Right now, Pitt is lacking a high quality road win.