KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Even though more than half of Pitt's players were on the team that won a school-record 31 games and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament last season, this team needed to create its own identity and develop confidence on its own merit.

The Panthers accomplished that in part by winning the first four games of the season, but their 78-62 loss against No. 3 Texas bolstered the team in a way that any of those four wins against lower-tier competition could not.

By pushing one of the best teams in the country to the limit, the Panthers proved to themselves that they are capable of competing with elite teams in the future -- and perhaps even beat a few -- if they address a few deficiencies that came to the surface late in the contest.

"If most of the people on our team didn't know, we learned we are pretty good," junior guard Brad Wanamaker said afterward.

Most 16-point losses don't make players feel that way, but Pitt had a lead with less than 12 minutes remaining. And, when taken into consideration that the undermanned and inexperienced Panthers played far from a perfect game, there is plenty of reason for optimism.

"I think we shocked a lot of people," said freshman reserve J.J. Richardson. "We didn't have our best game. But we did kind of hold our own. A lot of people were counting us out. And for us to stand up to the No. 3 team ...we didn't really play our best, but to hold our own shows that we are going to be pretty good."

Pitt did not execute well on offense, especially late in the second half when the Longhorns pulled away. The Panthers had 14 turnovers and only had three field goals in the final 11 minutes, when they were outscored by the Longhorns, 27-11.

After the pain of blowing a second-half lead to the No. 3 team in the polls dissipates, the Panthers will realize that they went toe-to-toe with the Longhorns without the services of two of their best players.

Senior guard Jermaine Dixon watched the game in street clothes from the bench because he continues to rehabilitate a foot injury. Junior forward Gilbert Brown was back in Pittsburgh serving an academic suspension that will keep him out for another three weeks.

Without Dixon and Brown, the Panthers found ways to be successful for long stretches against Texas. They held the Longhorns scoreless for the final 4:42 of the first half. They got to the free-throw line 10 times in the first half and made eight of those attempts. And they shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

And even though the second half unfolded in a manner that will haunt them for a few days, they put in place some building blocks.

"Deep down, we have the confidence that we can win every game we play," Wanamaker said. "They are a pretty good team. We've got to give them their respect. But, when it comes down to it, we feel we should have won the game.

"There are things we could have done better and we could have won the game. At the end of the day, they made the plays and played together as a team more than we did."

Pitt (4-1) must now regroup and play seven more non-conference games before the Big East schedule begins in late December. All but two of those games will be played at home. The game Wednesday against Duquesne will be played at Mellon Arena, and a game the following week against Indiana will be played at Madison Square Garden.

Up first is Youngstown State, the opponent Saturday at the Petersen Events Center.

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