DENVER -- The disappointment won't go away anytime soon. A Pitt team that was good enough to win the Big East Conference tournament title and be picked by no less than Bob Knight to win the national championship fell hard to Michigan State last night at the Pepsi Center in the second round of the NCAA tournament. For seniors Ronald Ramon and Keith Benjamin, the sting from a 65-54 loss and thoughts of what might have been will last the rest of their lives.

You know how that goes.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

"This is a loss that will hurt," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said, "because I thought we could have played a lot better."

Pitt couldn't have played much worse, actually. At least it couldn't have shot it worse.

The big picture, of course, is that Pitt had a fine season. It beat Duke in December and was ranked No. 6 before crushing injuries to starters Mike Cook and Levance Fields. It showed great mental toughness to overcome those injuries and go 10-8 in the rugged Big East. Then it blew through the conference tournament, winning four games in four days, including a couple of stunners against Louisville and Georgetown.

It was a marvelous season in many respects.

But that meant little to the players in the subdued Pitt locker room. They didn't see this loss coming, not after the way they played in New York at the Big East tournament and against Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAAs Thursday. They thought they were peaking at just the right time and were convinced Knight's championship pick was right on.

Ah, no.

In the end, Pitt broke its fans' hearts yet again by coming up short in another NCAA tournament game.

Maybe there isn't any shame in losing to Michigan State and its terrific coach, Tom Izzo. This wasn't like some of Pitt's other tournament losses recently when you turned out the lights on the Panthers' season and felt they underachieved. The loss against Kent State in '02, for instance. Or the loss against Pacific in '05. Or the one to Bradley in '06. Michigan State is a solid team and Izzo is a brilliant tournament coach.

"Not your typical second-round opponent," Fields said.

True, all true.

But that doesn't change the fact Pitt came up pretty small at the wrong time.

Michigan State people will tell you senior guard Drew Neitzel won the game with three consecutive huge shots late, two 3-pointers. The third gave the Spartans a 55-50 lead with four minutes left.

It was Pitt's bad luck that Neitzel was coming off a 2-for-11 shooting performance in Michigan State's 72-61 win against Temple Thursday in the first round. There was no way he was going to shoot so poorly again.

But Neitzel didn't beat Pitt. The Panthers' lousy shooting beat them. They made just 10 of their first 35 shots. By the time they finally got going, they trailed, 40-30, with 15 minutes left.

Pitt made a big run and even took a 44-42 lead when Sam Young made a hanging layup with 9:38 to go. But, after Young missed an open 3-point attempt that might have deflated the Spartans, Michigan State's Kalin Lucas answered with a layup and free throw to put the Spartans back on top. When forward Goran Suton hit a layup, the Spartans' lead was 47-44. Neitzel made sure it stood up.

Pitt just didn't have enough answers offensively. Although Fields played well and made 6 of his 12 shots, he didn't get a lot of help. His teammates combined to shoot a miserable 11 of 40. Young was 4 for 12, including 1 for 5 on 3-pointers. DeJuan Blair was 4 for 11 and missed layups he normally makes. Ramon was 1 for 9.

"I think they had a great scheme," Young said. "But the shots that we were able to get good looks at, we didn't knock down. When you're playing in a tournament -- sudden death -- you can't afford for that to happen."

It didn't help that Pitt was outrebounded, 37-26. Young had just one rebound.

All in all, it was pretty awful.

For Ramon and Benjamin, who each scored just two points, it was the worst possible ending to superb careers that produced many thrilling moments for Pitt fans. Their teams won at least 10 Big East games every year, at least 20 games overall in four consecutive seasons. They leave with 101 wins and countless priceless memories.

Sadly, though, it will be the win they didn't get -- that 102nd win -- that will stick with them most through the days, months and years ahead.