Pitt Basketball: Woodall returns, but Louisville still shreds Panther defense
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Louisville's Kyle Kuric gets caught up with Pitt's Nasir Robinson, rear, and Lamar Patterson, right, going for a rebound Saturday night at Petersen Events Center. -
Tray Woodall, right, defends Louisville's Peyton Siva in the first half Saturday night. -
J.J. Moore tries to get up a shot in the first half.
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Pitt and Louisville received good news on the injury front in advance of Saturday night's game at the Petersen Events Center.
The Panthers welcomed back point guard Tray Woodall after he missed 11 of the previous 12 games with an abdominal injury. The Cardinals welcomed back guard Kyle Kuric, who missed the previous two games with an ankle injury.
Kuric showed no ill effects from his injury; Woodall struggled to find his groove. By no coincidence, No. 23 Louisville ran away to a 73-62 victory.
Pitt's losing streak stands at eight games, its longest losing skid since the 1993-94 season. The Panthers have not won in more than a month with their last victory coming Dec. 20 against Saint Francis, Pa.
"Our players are battling and playing hard, but we're just not getting it done," Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.
The Panthers have lost four consecutive games at the Petersen Events Center and five for the season. It's the most losses in one season since the building opened in 2002, and the team has six home games remaining.
Kuric led Louisville (15-5, 3-4) with 21 points. Chane Behanan added 19. That inside-outside duo proved to be too much for the Panthers to overcome.
Kuric hurt the Panthers with five 3-pointers. Behanan, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound freshman, had his way in the middle, muscling the Panthers with an array of low post moves for which the home team had no answer.
Kuric made key shots all night when the Panthers threatened to make a game of it.
"We didn't know if he was going to play, but we knew he was a very good shooter," said Woodall, who was 0 for 5 from the field with two assists and three turnovers in 21 minutes. "We should have closed out on him a lot better than we did. We let him get it going early. And unfortunately, he had it going throughout the game."
Behanan was 6 for 9 from the field and was 7 for 9 from the free-throw line. He physically manhandled the Panthers under the basket.
"We expected it," Pitt sophomore forward Lamar Patterson said. "We knew how tough and physical he was. We just didn't match it."
Many of the same problems that have plagued the Panthers all season resurfaced Saturday night: Bad perimeter defense, turnovers and poor shooting.
Louisville, which entered the contest shooting 43 percent in its first six conference games, shot 55 percent. The Panthers didn't help matters with 18 turnovers and 32 percent shooting from 3-point range.
In the second half, Pitt's defense fell apart. Louisville shot 70 percent (14 for 20) in the second half with the majority of those coming via layups and dunks.
"We have to take responsibility for what we're doing defensively," Dixon said.
"A lot of transition layups," Patterson said. "Our defense wasn't as good as it's supposed to be."
Pitt (11-9, 0-7) was led by Patterson and Ashton Gibbs, who had 14 points apiece.
Louisville led, 31-28, at halftime. Kuric was the difference. He extended Louisville's lead to 40-33 with 16:44 remaining. After Pitt cut the lead to three, Kuric made his fifth 3-pointer to make it 45-39.
Louisville began to pull away from there. Six consecutive points by the Cardinals, capped by a Peyton Siva layup after he stripped Woodall produced a 51-41 lead, the biggest of the game for either team.
When Russ Smith made a 3-pointer for a 56-43 lead with 8:05 remaining some of the fans began to head for the exits.
"We just couldn't get the stops we needed," Dixon said. "Far too many layups."
Woodall was in the starting lineup, but he picked up his second foul 51/2 minutes into the game and had to go to the bench for almost 10 minutes. Louisville took advantage and surged ahead to its three-point halftime lead with Woodall playing only nine minutes.
The Panthers led, 9-7, when Woodall left the game. The Cardinals took their first lead when Behanan made one of two free throws after being fouled on a drive to the basket.
Louisville held onto the lead for all but 52 seconds the rest of the half. After Gibbs gave the Panthers a short-lived, 20-19 lead after making a 3-pointer, the Cardinals went on a 12-8 run over the final 5:47 of the half.
Kuric had three 3-pointers and 13 points in the first half. The Panthers also were victimized inside by Behanan and Gorgui Dieng, who combined for 12 points and 12 rebounds in the half.
First Published January 22, 2012 12:00 am
