PITTSBURGH - Pitt had two chances in eight days to secure at least a share of the Big East regular-season title. The Panthers failed both times, setting themselves up for a very difficult conference tournament this week in New York.
Then again, the No. 13 Panthers (25-6) always seem to make it rough on themselves in early March.
Pitt has played in the Big East championship game five of the last six years, winning once, yet will go into Thursday night's quarterfinal game against No. 18 Marquette or St. John's off yet another late-season slump.
By losing to No. 12 Louisville, No. 9 Georgetown and No. 18 Marquette during the last three weeks, Pitt slumped to a No. 3 seeding in the Big East tournament after leading the conference all but a couple of days all season.
By doing so, they've set themselves up for a much more difficult road to the title game Saturday night than they might have expected after winning their first five conference games.
Now, they may have to beat Marquette, the only team to defeat them twice this season, merely to reach the semifinals. The Panthers ended the regular season with a 75-71 loss Saturday at Marquette, which played much of the game without its two best players, and also lost to the Golden Eagles 77-74 at home Jan. 21.
Even if the Panthers win Thursday, they face a possible rematch against Louisville, which beat them 66-53 on Feb. 12 - their worst home-court loss in five seasons at the Petersen Events Center.
However, the late-season falloff doesn't concern all-conference center Aaron Gray, who remembers how the Panthers dropped three of their final four last season before winning three in a row in New York to gain the Big East title game.
“There are points where we're one of the top five teams in the country and there are other points when we're one of the bottom five teams in the Big East,” Gray said. “We just have to minimize those lapses. I'm not worried about this team.”
Coach Jamie Dixon was visibly disappointed with his team's play Saturday, but might be more concerned if the last month of the regular season hadn't been so difficult. Five of the final eight games were against ranked teams or one that was ranked the week before.
Also, the conference's unbalanced schedule - some teams play each other twice, but don't meet others at all - means the standings don't always reflect which teams are better, Dixon said.
“There are more inconsistencies in the final standings,” he said. “I was just looking at it, and Villanova is in ninth place in the conference but is No. 18 in the RPI,” which is used by the NCAA to calculate a team's overall strength.
Still, the Panthers would have been top-seeded this week if they had beaten Georgetown on Feb. 24 or second-seeded if they had beaten Marquette, and thus would have gained a more favorable route to the championship game.
“But everybody's kind of on equal footing right now,” Gray said. “We're taking it as if we've got a three-game season now.”
Pitt has played in the Big East championship game five of the last six years, winning once, yet will go into Thursday night's quarterfinal game against No. 18 Marquette or St. John's off yet another late-season slump.
By losing to No. 12 Louisville, No. 9 Georgetown and No. 18 Marquette during the last three weeks, Pitt slumped to a No. 3 seeding in the Big East tournament after leading the conference all but a couple of days all season.
By doing so, they've set themselves up for a much more difficult road to the title game Saturday night than they might have expected after winning their first five conference games.
Now, they may have to beat Marquette, the only team to defeat them twice this season, merely to reach the semifinals. The Panthers ended the regular season with a 75-71 loss Saturday at Marquette, which played much of the game without its two best players, and also lost to the Golden Eagles 77-74 at home Jan. 21.
Even if the Panthers win Thursday, they face a possible rematch against Louisville, which beat them 66-53 on Feb. 12 - their worst home-court loss in five seasons at the Petersen Events Center.
However, the late-season falloff doesn't concern all-conference center Aaron Gray, who remembers how the Panthers dropped three of their final four last season before winning three in a row in New York to gain the Big East title game.
“There are points where we're one of the top five teams in the country and there are other points when we're one of the bottom five teams in the Big East,” Gray said. “We just have to minimize those lapses. I'm not worried about this team.”
Coach Jamie Dixon was visibly disappointed with his team's play Saturday, but might be more concerned if the last month of the regular season hadn't been so difficult. Five of the final eight games were against ranked teams or one that was ranked the week before.
Also, the conference's unbalanced schedule - some teams play each other twice, but don't meet others at all - means the standings don't always reflect which teams are better, Dixon said.
“There are more inconsistencies in the final standings,” he said. “I was just looking at it, and Villanova is in ninth place in the conference but is No. 18 in the RPI,” which is used by the NCAA to calculate a team's overall strength.
Still, the Panthers would have been top-seeded this week if they had beaten Georgetown on Feb. 24 or second-seeded if they had beaten Marquette, and thus would have gained a more favorable route to the championship game.
“But everybody's kind of on equal footing right now,” Gray said. “We're taking it as if we've got a three-game season now.”