SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Perhaps it was a hangover from a win in front of Saturday’s sellout crowd. Maybe it was the added motivation from the home team to send its head coach out with a victory? Or it could’ve been just plain old shamrock luck — on the first day of March.
Regardless of the reason, the Pitt men’s basketball team walked off the court in South Bend shaking its head in confusion Wednesday evening, after suffering an inexcusable 88-81 road loss to Notre Dame in ACC play.
While a victory would’ve guaranteed at least a share of the ACC title for the No. 25 Panthers (21-9, 14-5), it was the Fighting Irish (11-19, 3-16) that came out playing inspired basketball, jumping out to a 14-point lead in the first half, highlighted by an 11-0 run in the final three and a half minutes before the two squads went into the locker room.
The frustration only continued in the second half as Notre Dame was able to hang onto its lead in the final 20 minutes, despite a late push by Pitt. The Fighting Irish shot 49% from the field and 84% from the foul line in the win. All five of Notre Dame’s starters ended the night scoring in double-figures.
Marcus Hammond, who missed his team’s most recent contest due to injury, returned to lead the Fighting Irish with 20 points. Cormac Ryan also had a strong evening, ending with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Jamarius Burton, Nike Sibande and Nelly Cummings each scored 19 for Pitt in its loss. Blake Hinson also had a strong night on the stat sheet, tallying a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
The victory marked the final home win for Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, who announced in January that he will be leaving the program at the end of the season. The loss drops Pitt into a three-way tie with No. 13 Virginia and No. 16 Miami for first place in the ACC standings with just one game to play.
Key stat: A better effort from the Panthers either at the foul line or from 3-point-range could perhaps have led to a different end result. Pitt made just 20 shots on 36 attempts from the charity stripe, while it was even worse from downtown, hitting only seven of its 22 looks.
Part of Pitt’s struggles on the offensive end could be due to insufficient ball movement. The Panthers ended their horrific defeat with only eight assists on 21 total baskets.
Up next: Pitt will wrap up its regular season schedule on the road Saturday at Miami. Tip-off between the Panthers and Hurricanes (23-6, 14-5) is scheduled for 5 p.m. The contest will be televised on the ACC Network.
Pitt edged out Miami the first time the two met this season, using an 11-0 run in the final two minutes of action to steal a 71-68 victory on Jan. 28 at the Petersen Events Center. The Panthers can secure at least a share of the ACC regular season title with another win in Round 2.
