PITTSBURGH — It was a freezing cold night both inside and outside of the Petersen Events Center on Tuesday night.
In Pitt’s game against Missouri, as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge, the Panthers went ice cold late in the second half to surrender their second loss of the season, and first at home. Pitt failed to score for more than eight-straight minutes in the second-frame, all the way until Blake Hinson hit two-straight three pointers with less than three minutes to go.
However, Hinson’s late threes were not enough, as Missouri closed out the 71-64 win late Tuesday night.
In the beginning of the game, the two teams traded the lead back-and-forth throughout the first half, until Pitt turned seven-straight Missouri misses into an 8-0 run to take a 23-17 lead with over 7 minutes to go in the first. Ishmael Leggett provided early scoring for the Panthers, as well as Guillermo Diaz-Graham, who finished an and-one layup and added a tip-in dunk early on.
While Pitt shot a high percentage from the field in the first half (44%), the Panthers just could not get out and run due to Missouri’s suffocating defense. The Tigers forced six Panther turnovers and allowed just 23 field-goal attempts from the Panthers in the frame, taking a 38-35 lead into the half on the road.
In the second half, Bub Carrington continued his strong offensive night, hitting a step-back three in Noah Carter’s face to cut Missouri’s lead down to two. Shortly after, Leggett found Blake Hinson in transition for a breakaway two-handed slam to take the lead, 44-42, extending Pitt’s run to 7-0.
However, Missouri was not going anywhere. The Tigers stuck together and held Pitt scoreless for the next three-plus minutes, going on an 8-0 run of their own and building up a six-point lead with 12 minutes to go.
Hinson responded with a three, cutting Missouri’s lead in half off a cross-court find from Carrington. But the Tigers, once again, tightened up the defense and went on another run. Pitt went on a 2-for-12 streak from the field from the 16-minute mark all the way down to the seven-minute mark, failing to gain much momentum offensively while the Tigers continued to convert timely buckets. Sean East II hit his third three of game with less than six minutes to go, extending his point total to 18 and bringing the Missouri lead into double digits.
Pitt cut into the lead with a pair of Federiko Federiko free throws, but on the ensuing possession, Missouri’s East threw an alley-oop up to a high-flying Aidan Shaw for a reverse slam, bringing the lead right back up to ten. Pitt, at this point, had gone seven minutes without a field goal when it needed to score most.
The Panthers finally snapped the streak with a three off the hands of Hinson with three minutes to go, trimming Missouri’s lead down to five. Then, with 2:25 remaining, Hinson doubled down.
The senior, Pitt’s leading scorer, drained a three pointer from the edge of the Pitt logo, cutting Missouri’s lead all the way down to two and igniting the Panther faithful in attendance.
In the final two minutes, Missouri earned big buckets from Caleb Grill and Connor Vanover, and the Panthers’ Leggett missed a wide-open attempt to cut the lead down to one with 40 seconds to go. Missouri closed out the win with free throws from East, sending the Panthers their second loss of the year.
Hinson finished as Pitt’s leading scorer with 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting, while Carrington followed with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and four assists.
For Missouri, East finished as the leading scorer with 21 points. Carter followed with a strong interior performance, scoring 13.
With the loss, Pitt falls to 5-2 on the year while Missouri improves to 6-2.
Pitt will now play Clemson on Dec. 3, once again at the Petersen Events Center. That game will tip off at 2 p.m. on ACC Network.
In there 2 losses they were out coach… it’s capel trademark
If Pitts perimeter shooters make their shots they win by 6-10 points. They were getting their shots. I was at the game. Pitt was just ice cold in the second half unfortunately. What did Gates do offensively and defensively with Missouri that was so great?
Then you adjust and you go inside O wait they don’t have an inside game never have
Gates vs Capel. Coaching mismatch. Absolutely no surprise
Did you watch the game on TV? Did you attend it? If Pitt makes their open shots they win. If they convert their second half free throws they win, too.
They shot 81% on twice as many free throws. And Mizzou’s defense was good. “If if if”. They lost to a middling SEC team. End of story
Some people think that if you go cold shooting, then you are being outcoached. I saw several moves made in that game that showed that they weren’t being out coached. We WILL shoot better and we will see them again in the tournament.
Haha. Yeah Gates took them out of their game. The mental midget on the sideline had no answer. As it stands, this is not a tournament team. The lightening in a bottle of having a bunch of 24 year olds in a down ACC has passed. “We”. Lol. Pitt May see them in the NIT.
Put your money where your mouth is. Since you have such a BIG mouth, bring plenty
You told me, skippy! I’ve already made a few hundred taking Florida and Mizzou. I’ll be in Clemson next week. Betting against that dummy is going to fund my vacation home.
I guess kenpom is not a good reference for making bets.
Let’s regroup. It’s only going to get tougher. H2P
I had Mizzou plus 7.
I have never understood why teams like Pitt can’t add a zone defense just to change momentum. A zone is not that difficult to teach and many times it can chang a game. Pitt could not contain either guard tonight man on man. You can beat a more physical team at times in a zone defense. Capel has to find different ways to play when what there doing isn’t working.
Are you suggesting coaching?
Free throws and a lack of an inside game will always be this teams downfall. Until Pitt can get an inside threat they will lose games they should win.
8 assists won’t win many games.
Having a dummy on the sideline doesn’t help either
Why don’t you tell us what you would have done?
Well for starters I never would have hired him. And certainly never extended him. Two biggest mistakes of Luke’s tenure that will probably end up costing her the Ohio State job.
So you are betting Clemson. Hiring Capel will NOT cost her the OHIO STATE job. Hiring Narduzzi will.
She didn’t hire Narduzzi. Cretin.
You can’t win consistently with jump shots, Pitt needs to add an inside threat to help our shooters out.Out cached or not, I do not recall Capel missing any free throws or jumpers.