PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh’s search for consistency continues.

Another winnable game. Another second-half meltdown. Another puzzling loss in a season that is quickly filling with them.

The Panthers fell to No. 23 Cincinnati 26-23 on Saturday night, a defeat that looked awfully familiar to first-year coach Todd Graham.

“We made way too many mental errors,” Graham said.

The most painful ones popping up after the Panthers took a 10-point lead in the third quarter. Pittsburgh let the Bearcats back in the game with a pair of turnovers that paved the way to Cincinnati’s sixth straight win.

Quarterback Tino Sunseri fumbled to set up a Zach Collaros touchdown run that tied the game at 23 then threw an interception three plays later that the Bearcats (7-1, 3-0 Big East) used to take control of what was supposed to be a wide-open conference race.

“We have to move the ball and be able to make plays and execute and play sound football for 60 minutes,” Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri said. “That’s what we’ve been doing for 45 minutes, but we need to do that for 60 minutes.”

It hasn’t been happening with any sort of regularity for the Panthers (4-5, 2-2). Pitt hasn’t won consecutive games since starting the season 2-0 and now needs to win out and get a ton of help to have a shot at the conference title.

“It’s a crazy league and it isn’t over yet,” Graham said. “We’ve got to regroup.”