NEWARK, N.J. -- Seton Hall is one of the worst defensive teams in the nation. The Pirates allowed their first six Big East opponents to average almost 80 points per game. Three of their past seven foes scored 85 points or more.

Pitt, purportedly, is one of the best defensive teams in the country. The Panthers allow fewer points than any other team in the Big East.

But Sunday, it was Seton Hall that taught Pitt a thing or two about how to play defense in a 64-61 victory against the No. 9 Panthers at the Prudential Center.

The Pirates forced the Panthers (15-4, 5-2) into 20 turnovers, into a 35 percent shooting performance and, ultimately, into a state of disbelief.

"We had 20 turnovers, 14 in the first half," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. "That usually will lead to a loss. Most amazingly, [the turnovers] all came in the half-court, which is hard to comprehend. We're making bad decisions and not executing well enough offensively and defensively."

Seton Hall (12-6, 3-4) had to play most of the game without leading scorer Jeremy Hazell, who was in foul trouble from the beginning of the contest. That forced the high-scoring Pirates, who average more than 84 points per game, into a low-scoring affair.

That should have been an advantage for Pitt, but Seton Hall adapted its game.

"What was great was we beat them the way they beat people," Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "We played great defensively. We kind of turned the tables on them."

Ashton Gibbs scored 23 points, but he struggled with his shooting for the third consecutive game. Gibbs was 4 for 15 from the field and only 1 for 7 from 3-point range. His last two misses from behind the arc came in the final 10 seconds of the game when the Panthers were trying desperately to tie the score and send the contest to overtime.

"I had a decent look on the first one," Gibbs said. "I was confident. I thought it was going in. The second one was more so-so. I didn't really know how much time was left."

In the past three games, Gibbs is 11 for 43 from the field. Seton Hall, like Louisville and Georgetown, smothered Gibbs on the perimeter and made it difficult for him to get open shots.

"It's definitely more difficult," Gibbs said. "Teams are definitely keying a lot more on me. At the same time, I have to take advantage of the opportunities I do have. I have to keep getting in the gym. They'll fall sooner or later."

Gibbs' teammates could not pick up the slack. Jermaine Dixon was the only other Pitt player in double figures with 11 points. The Panthers were 4 for 17 from 3-point range. Many of the problems on offense, Gibbs said, were caused by mental breakdowns.

"We just didn't have the chemistry there," he said. "There were a couple of plays we didn't know. Some of the players just didn't know them, including myself. Some of the plays coach Dixon called in a timeout, we came out and didn't execute. Whether we didn't know the play or forgot it, I don't know."

Jamie Dixon pointed to poor shot selection as the main culprit.

Pitt's defensive execution was almost as poor as its offensive execution. Seton Hall shot 44.6 percent from the field and scored 38 points near the basket. Aliquippa's Herb Pope, a 6-foot-8 forward, scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Jeff Robinson, a 6-6 forward, scored 15 points.

Many of their baskets were of the easy variety. Pope scored almost all of his points on dunks, layups or at the free-throw line.

Pope's final field goal came out of a timeout. During the break, the Pitt coaches guessed right on the play the Pirates were going to run, but they still could not stop it.

"We've been having a lot of defensive lapses," Jermaine Dixon said. "On the dunk, coach [Brandin] Knight told us what they were going to do and that's exactly what they did. It was a hand-off to a ball screen. We were supposed to be there. That's been happening a lot. It happened against Georgetown. It happened today."

The loss marked the first time in 23 months that Pitt dropped two consecutive games. In February 2008, the Panthers lost three in a row. They will try to avoid doing that Thursday when they play host to St. John's.

"We're not executing on offense or defense," Gibbs said. "We're giving up too many buckets. And we're not scoring enough. That's because of our offensive execution. Once we get that right, I think we'll be fine."

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