Pitt Unravels in Second Half in Blowout Loss to SMU
PITTSBURGH — Both Pitt (9-15, 2-9) and SMU (16-7, 4-5) entered Saturday’s matchup at the Petersen Events Center losers of two-straight games but after a horrendous three-point shooting day, the Panthers were the team that saw their losing streak move to three games.
The Panthers played a tight first half, mainly due to the Mustangs starting the game 2-of-13 from the field, but after they finally got some shots to drop, it seemed like everything started to fall for the visitors.
That was especially evident after halftime as the Mustangs shot 70% from the field (19-of-27) in the second half. Most of the second-half damage came from the Mustangs’ guard duo of Boopie Miller and Jaron Pierre Jr. The two combined for 25 points on a combined 9-of-10 shooting in the closing period.
The problem for the Panthers was when the Mustangs started to heat up, their own shooting performance went downhill. By halftime, the Panthers attempted 18 threes and that rose to 33 by the end of the game while they made just eight of them total.
Other than the horrid shooting day from behind-the-arc, the Panthers were dominated in every other aspect of the game as the Mustangs scored 44 paint points and 25 on fast breaks opportunities.
Damarco Minor got the action started with a three but SMU answered on the other end when big-man Samet Yigitoglu converted on an and-one. His physical bucket was a sign of things to come as he scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half.
While Pitt did not get off to the hottest start, they managed to build a 19-13 lead before the Mustangs high-powered offense finally kicked into gear. A three from Boopie Miller was the start of a run by the Mustangs that featured them making six of their next seven shots.
By the time that the Panthers defense managed to get a stop, the Mustangs took a 24-23 lead but it was short lived as a 5-0 run gave the lead right back to Pitt. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Mustangs matched with a 5-0 run themselves that put them back ahead 29-28.
A pair of free throws from Minor a possession later gave the Panthers their last lead of the game at 30-29. The Panthers then went the next four minutes and twenty seconds without a single point.
The scoring drought the Mustangs to build a 34-30 lead but Barry Dunning Jr. roared past two defenders for a layup with just 11 seconds left in the half and the Panthers entered the locker room down by just two.
The game flipped on its head for the Panthers in the second half as they came out and missed three-straight three-pointers, two of them on wide-open looks.
While the Panthers offense struggled out of the intermission, the Mustangs did not as they took advantage of the misses on the other end and opened up a 12-2 run that gave them a double-digit lead.
The run lasted nearly four whole minutes as the Panthers first second-half bucket came at the 16:31 mark on a dunk by Cam Corhen which cut the deficit to nine but a three from Corey Washington, his second of the half, re-extended the Mustangs lead back out to 11 points and it never was smaller than ten over the rest of the game.
Once the Mustangs lead got to a certain point, Miller and Pierre went into cruise control and took command of the game. Their nearly perfect shooting half allowed the Mustangs to build a lead as large as 24 points.
The 19-point loss marks Pitt’s second-consecutive loss by at least 19 and is the team’s fifth double-digit loss in ACC play and second in a row after a 20-point loss at Virginia on Tuesday.
The road does not get any easier for Pitt as it hosts Duke on Tuesday before making a road trip to Chapel Hill on Saturday for a contest against North Carolina.
