Panthers bow out of ACC Tournament with loss to ND

TribLive

By JERRY DIPAOLA

Jaland Lowe and Zack Austin spoke through tears Tuesday afternoon inside the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.,, reflecting on Pitt’s 55-54 loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

“I’m just hurt, man. I’m just hurt,” said Austin, who played his last game after two seasons at Pitt.

Said Lowe: “I’m in disbelief. I’m hurt. Nobody should have to go out like this.”

Coach Jeff Capel said he was “hurt, frustrated, angry.”

“It’s really hard to see them hurting like this.”

But no one among those three men stepped out of line to criticize the official who called a foul on Austin with a half-second left and the score tied. That sent Notre Dame’s Tae Davis to the foul line for the winning point.

Sitting courtside and offering analysis for the ACC Network’s telecast, former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said Austin did not commit a foul.

Respectful of the moment, Capel calmly referenced the play without offering any details.

“First, congrats to Notre Dame,” he said, repeating his opening remark after every loss. “Hard-fought game for both teams. Really hated the way it ended. I’ve been coaching for 25 years. It’s the worst way I’ve ever seen to end the ballgame in my 25 years of doing this. I still can’t believe it. Shocked at how it ended for us.”

Perhaps some context is in order to truly understand the feelings of the players and coaches. The loss was Pitt’s 13th in its past 18 games, the seventh by four points or fewer, after a 12-2 start to the season. The months of January, February and March have been one disappointment after another.

But this one looked like it might end in Pitt’s favor.

The Panthers (17-15) missed 18 of 22 3-point shots, committed 11 turnovers and never led by more than four points. But they took a 47-43 lead into the game’s final 3 1/2 minutes.

The lead changed hands seven times after that, in large part because the Irish tapped in two of their 10 offensive rebounds and Lowe, who scored 17 points, missed two shots and committed two turnovers. He played all 40 minutes.

The last of those turnovers gave Notre Dame (15-17) life in a tie game.

Pitt freshman Brandin Cummings scored five points in the final 1 minute, 35 seconds, his 3-point basket giving Pitt a 54-52 lead with 1:09 left. But Notre Dame’s Nikita Konstantynovskyi tipped in a missed shot for a 54-54 tie.

Trying to break the tie, Lowe drove the baseline in traffic and stepped out of bounds. That led to a missed shot by Markus Burton, Davis’ offensive rebound and missed put-back. The game appeared to be headed for overtime, but a late whistle signaled a foul on Austin. Capel protested in the moment, but the call stood and Davis hit one of two free throws.

A Pitt news release said Notre Dame was “gifted a pair of free throws.”

Big picture: The game between No. 12-seeded Notre Dame and No. 13 Pitt was a sloppy mess by solid basketball standards. The teams combined for 28 turnovers — the Irish committed 17 — and together they shot 19% (8 of 42) from the 3-point line. Pitt trailed by 10 at one point in the first half, but the Panthers did play solid defense, especially on Burton, the ACC’s leading scorer (22.2 points per game). Burton scored only 10 points while missing 10 of 14 shots.

No matter the optics, the victory lifts Notre Dame into the second round Wednesday against No. 5 North Carolina.

Other than Lowe, only Cam Corhen scored in double figures (10) for Pitt, but early in the first half he committed two turnovers, missed two shots and was called for a flagrant 1 foul when he threw an elbow into Konstantynovskyi while attempting a shot. Ishmael Leggett, who was averaging 15.7 points, added only four.

“My guys played hard. We fought, put ourselves in a position to win. Unfortunately we came up short,” Capel said.

When he was asked by a reporter what he felt when he entered the Pitt locker room after the game, Capel tried to put the loss into a larger perspective, perhaps making it easier for his players to accept.

“They don’t realize it now because it’s fresh, and it really hurts,” he said. “But these are life lessons that will help them as they enter into the real world. Hopefully, they’ll be able to reflect back on tough times and good times and use it as an example of how you have to continue to show up. You have to continue to have a positive attitude. You have to continue to be a good teammate.

“That’s one of the things I’m grateful for in our program: what we’ve been able to do in the midst of adversity in the past two months. That’s what I felt when I entered the locker room.”