Now, either team that lost was going to be officially in free-fall or a slide. Thankfully, it was ‘Nova not Pitt that has to deal with most of the issues.
Villanova fans watched as the team fell apart before their eyes. Over the next 8.5 minutes, the Panthers outscored the Wildcats by a ridiculous 19-3 margin.
The Wildcats could not score. The Wildcats could not defend. And still, Malcolm Grant, arguably among the team’s best scorers and defenders, languished on the bench.
I have to agree with the boys of Let’s Go Nova. Where exactly was Malcolm Grant? He torched Pitt last time, but played a total of 8 minutes. Not complaining, but it is a good question.
The ‘Nova slide is the longest for them in a while.
Nothing much has gone right for Villanova over the last eight days. Its defense has problems making stops, and when it does, the offense goes cold.
The Wildcats saw many of their recent troubles on display last night against 18th-ranked Pittsburgh. After a horrible start offensively, they grabbed the lead for all of 29 seconds midway through the second half, and then struggled mightily at both ends.
The Panthers ran away to a 69-57 victory, dealing Villanova its third straight defeat, its longest losing streak since dropping five in a row in February and March 2004.
Like Jamie Dixon, Villanova’s Coach Jay Wright continues to be publicly optimistic about his team’s prospects and only speaks of going forward. He also gave credit to Pitt.
“We played a hungry team tonight,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright, whose team will try to sweep Syracuse Saturday afternoon at the Wachovia Center. “Their effort kind of wore us down as the game wore on. It’s what good teams do.
“Every time they made a run, we had no answers.”
The Panthers, still playing without their only two returning starters (Levance Fields, Mike Cook), were coming off a home loss to Rutgers, which of course had just beaten Villanova at home before that. Coach Jamie Dixon was so upset that he had his guys really go after each other in practice. With all the injuries his team had suffered, he’d been giving them the benefit of the doubt. But at this point in the journey, you do what you have to do.
“We had that toughness [again],” said Keith Benjamin, who had seven assists. “That’s why we got through it.
“There are always going to be runs. You have to stay with it.”
The announcing crew and many people kept worrying when Villanova made their run at Pitt, that a Rutgers disaster would happen again.
“This was not the Rutgers game,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon defiantly said.
This time, the No. 18 Panthers responded with a 22-3 surge and beat Villanova 69-57 at the Petersen Events Center. This time, Pitt wouldn’t let it be Rutgers.
“We were staying together and staying with what we do,” said Pitt guard Keith Benjamin. “We didn’t want to fall in and do what we did the other day.”
Which is why Rutgers is now a rallying cry for this team.
Of course, Rutgers was also able to kill Pitt from outside. Something Villanova hasn’t been able to do and definitely didn’t do in this game.
Sam Young’s second half effort — and the big dunk — put a lot of spotlight on him once more.
Young, admittedly, was suffering through a slump. In last Saturday’s upset loss to Rutgers, Young was 4 of 17 from the floor. The only thing consistent about his uneven performance was his poor shot selection. He was ineffective in the second half — eight missed shots and only two rebounds — when the Panthers desperately needed his scoring ability to curtail a Rutgers run.
The slump spilled into Wednesday’s game. Young was 2 of 6 shooting in the first half. His shot selection was still poor. His decisions appeared hurried.
On this night, when the Panthers called on him again in desperation after Villanova’s 9-0 run to take the lead, Young responded. He had some sort of epiphany.
“I had a feel for the game in the second half,” said Young, with a smile not often seen on his face. “That block pretty much summed it up. I was real energetic after that.”
Imagine that. A little more effort and energy on the defensive end leads to the offense. Think Coach Dixon isn’t going to remind him about that?
He didn’t get a lot of attention or credit. Even from me. I forgot to mention him in my observations, but Tyrell Biggs did a very good job last night. Showing that he has been working at it, he got the majority of his 14 points from the free throw line.
Biggs’ 14 points were a career-high in a conference game and he earned most of them inside or at the foul line. He rolled toward the basket and was rewarded often with passes from Keith Benjamin, who finished with a career-high seven assists as he handled point-guard duties during most of the run for the foul-troubled Ramon.
Biggs played 26 minutes. He was 3-5 shooting, 8-12 on FTs, 4 rebounds, 1 block and 0 turnovers. His free throw shooting has been improving as the season has gone on. It’s not 85%, but it is inching upwards.
Sure, Villanova has struggled on 3s in recent games, but that didn’t stop Pitt from taking credit for holding the Wildcats to 25% shooting from outside.
“We really locked in,” Benjamin said. “The perimeter really got picked apart in the Rutgers game, and we really let the big guys down. We didn’t want to get picked apart again.”
Glass half-full column — Pitt gutted and got gritty to get the win.
It’s not just the scoring and rebounding that the Panthers have to manufacture while relying heavily on four freshmen, it’s the physical and mental toll that’s being exacted now that the minutes are beginning to pile up, in some cases like never before under Dixon.
All of the above appeared to suddenly be a problem while Villanova was in the process of grabbing its second-half lead.
This time, the Panthers had an answer.
“It was time to just grind it out,” guard Keith Benjamin said.
It will be until further notice.
Glass half-empty column — yeah, Pitt won but ‘Nova isn’t that good right now.
So after a below-average first 20 minutes, the Panthers came out and played worse for the first eight minutes of the second half, allowing Villanova to take a one-point lead, 38-37.
For the remainder of the game, however, Pitt was excellent, opening leads of 18 points and playing with a flair they’ve often shown in the past.
But 12 good minutes against a struggling opponent is not a sign of excellence. So where does this leave the Panthers?
About where expected with 3 true freshmen and 1 redshirt freshman in an 8-man rotation. A bit unpredictable and uneven.
I hate that fucking douche games are on espn EVERY FUCKING WEEK.
I’m tired of watching those little bitches flop around. They should have to wear fucking skirts. What AWFUL basketball. [/rant]
Young is the biggest consistent threat. But where was Blair’s 15 and 15 against Rutgers? Where was Benjamin’s hot outside shooting? Young looked the worst because his lack of effort was obvious. But no one did anything for Pitt in the second half of the Rutgers game.
Hopefully the last two games can give Young and the team a bit of a reminder that other players need to step up if one player is down.
Pitt and Villanova have a habit of playing these really ugly games against one another. If I am not mistaken, Pitt’s 67 last night was the highest point total for either team in their match-ups the last few years. Plus, Nova leads the Big East in forced turnovers per game, even with their dismal conference record. Their press combined with their half-court defense has produced a lot of turnovers, but their total lack of offensive talent has kept them from getting much needed points off turnovers.
Scottie Reynolds may be a good player. He may be their star. But it is common for bad teams to have 1 player who puts up big points. It is because that 1 player is really the only weapon and everything runs through him. That is the difference between a team like Pitt and a team like Nova.
For Pitt, if anyone on their team, and it can be a different player every night, scores 20+ points, they win. For a team like Nova, Scottie Reynolds HAS to get 20+ to keep them in the game, and maybe 30+ to get the win vs. a good team.