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Friday, March 28, 2003

MINNEAPOLIS -- Live by defense, die by defense.

The greatest strength of the Pitt basketball team became its undoing last night, and in the process ended a season rich with promise, a season in which the Final Four had become a realistic goal.

For the first time in a long time and for one of the few times this season, the Panthers went up against an opponent its stellar defenders couldn't handle. Dwyane Wade, a dazzling slasher who could score from anywhere and from any position, scored 20 points in the second half and was the difference in the game as Marquette advanced to the Midwest Region final against Kentucky with a 77-74 win.

In this game it was the opponent that was making the dazzling inside passes for easy layups. In this game it was the opponent that was getting the most open shots, and in this game it was the opponent who had the best player on the floor.

"We let them get a lot of open looks by gambling too much defensively," said Pitt Coach Ben Howland. "They're a very good team. They made five 3-pointers in the first half. Three of them were because we were trying to make a play, to get a steal."

Wade scored the first basket of the game and then not again the rest of the half. It looked as if Pitt had another top scorer under control. But after making only one of five shots in the first half, he made nine of 14 in the second half including two spectacular drives.

"If you have a bad first half, you can have a great second half, and I keep that in mind," Wade said.

The Pitt defense never got a handle on Wade, who scored 10 points in less than three minutes early in the second half. The result of this was the second most points Pitt has allowed this season. Only Georgia, which scored 79 in December, scored more against Pitt. Only four teams, including Marquette, scored more than 70 against Pitt.

It was a disappointing defeat for the Panthers, who took an 11-game winning streak into the game at the Metrodome. They had been playing their best basketball of the season and there was ample reason to believe they could advance to the Final Four. That was particularly true after No. 1 seed Kentucky was very good but not nearly the juggernaut it has been declared by some in winning last night's first game against Wisconsin.

"We're very disappointed," said Howland. "We felt like we really had a chance to make it to the Final Four to win the national championship."

Instead, for the second year in a row, Pitt's season ended in a regional semifinal game which it had been favored to win. The Panthers lost to Kent State, a 10th seed, last year.

Pitt trailed by 11 points with a little less than five minutes remaining but went on an 11-1 run to get back in the game. But they never took the lead at the end.

All season, Pitt was considered to be weak in two areas. In one of those areas they distinguished themselves last night. In the other area, they came up painfully short.

Free-throw shooting, an area many believed would end the Pitt season, helped keep it alive. The Panthers made 12 of 15 attempts, an 80 percent rate of success. But they suffered for their lack of a go-to guy. Pitt has never had the dominant offensive player, the shooter a team wants to go to in clutch moments.

That was never more apparent than in the final seconds. Down by three points with 11 seconds remaining after Scott Merritt had made two free throws for Marquette, Pitt's only option was a 3 pointer.

Brandin Knight brought the ball up the floor, faked his defender out of position enough to get a good look and, with 4.5 second remaining, put up a shot that wasn't close.

Pitt's fate had been in the hands of their captain and their leader but also a player who made only 31 percent of his 3-point attempts during the season, a player who is simply not the kind of shooter to take the last shot of the game.

Knight has the heart for it and the courage for it, but not the skill level.

In the end the coach had the floor.

"All year long these guys have found a way to win. We've had an excellent year because these guys have great heart, play with a lot of courage and never get rattled."

For so many times this season, it was Ben Howland uttering those words. Last night it was Marquette Coach Tom Crean.