Pitt comeback falls short
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s been a long time between wins for Pittsburgh. That doesn’t mean the Panthers have forgotten how to string together a victory.
J.J. Moore scored 16 points and Dante Taylor added 11, but Pittsburgh fell 57-54 against No. 17 Louisville on Sunday for the Panthers’ fifth straight loss.
“We don’t have to learn how to win again. We know how to win,” Moore said. “We just have to execute a lot of plays. We play hard every day. The team knows how to win. We know how to win and we just have to put it out there on the court.”
Dante Taylor scored 11 points as Pittsburgh (15-14, 4-12 Big East) cut the lead to one and had three chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute, but Tray Woodall missed a jumper and senior Ashton Gibbs’ shot from just inside halfcourt as time expired missed off the back iron.
“We felt it was a game we should have won and it just got away from us,” Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said. “We battled through a lot of things. We were down, we had foul trouble, came back and obviously had an opportunity at the end. (We’re) disappointed in the loss.”
Russ Smith scored 18 points, Kyle Kuric added 17, including a key 3-pointer late as the shot clock expired that gave Louisville (22-7, 10-6) a 53-48 lead with 3:25 left.
That was the last scoring until the final sequence.
Woodall added hit a fadeaway shot over Kuric and Lamar Patterson found Taylor for a dunk with 28 seconds to go that made it 53-52.
Louisville freshman Chane Behanan then had two chances to ice the game. The 60 percent free-throw shooter missed the first in a one-and-one situation, but Woodall missed a jumper and Behanan was fouled with 13 seconds left.
After he hit both, Woodall drove to the hoop, scoring with 5.2 seconds to play.
“I think it’s a tough call, but obviously we didn’t win so it can be questioned at this point afterward,” Dixon said. “I guess it has to be.”
The Panthers fouled Peyton Siva just over a second later and Siva made both to finish with 11 points.
