You can make the case that Pitt had been getting closer to a big win. The Miami game. Louisville last week. Those games were within grasp. Just that awful mix of inconsistency on offense and weak defense, that all but had Jamie Dixon publicly questioning his team’s mental make-up. Still, the big win had been elusive.
They had good wins — at ND (the only loss ND had at the Joyce Center all season) and sweeping Syracuse. Only one “bad” loss — the home decimation to NC State.
But so many of the losses were plain demoralizing because they weren’t close. Whether by the end — Virginia and at Louisville — or throughout — at Clemson and at UNC — they were losses that gave no sense of hope. No real, “we can build on this,” feeling.
