Trailing Southern Methodist by two at halftime was hardly a bad spot to be in for Pitt on Saturday afternoon.
But when play resumed in the second half, the Panthers’ competitiveness all but evaporated.
From the first possession, Pitt had few defensive answers for an SMU squad that hit 70% of its second-half baskets en route to an 86-67 blowout over the Panthers at Petersen Events Center.
“(SMU) put together a great roster with experience, elite-level guard play, a really good big guy inside and young, energetic guys off the bench,” coach Jeff Capel said. “They’re one of the best offensive teams in our league. … Frustrating for us. There were some good things that we did, but obviously nowhere near good enough.”
After being down 34-32 at halftime, SMU (16-7, 5-5 ACC) began the second half on a 9-0 run to take an 11-point lead less than three minutes into the final half.
In total, Pitt (9-15, 2-9) was outscored 52-35 over the final 20 minutes.
“I thought we came out and we generated good looks to start the second half, (but) we missed,” Capel said. “We allowed that to affect everything. It started with us not getting back in transition defense, giving them easy baskets.”
SMU’s Boopie Miller had 20 points, and Jaron Pierre led all scorers with 21. Big man Samet Yigitoglu imposed his will down low, scoring 15 with eight rebounds.
Pitt was led by Cam Corhen (15 points), Barry Dunning Jr. (12 points, seven rebounds) and Nojus Indrusaitis (10 points), with the Panthers shooting 22 of 61 (36.1%) from the floor. Pitt played without leading scorer Brandin Cummings (ankle) for the second straight game.
Transition defense hurt the Panthers throughout the day.
Led by their guards, Miller and Pierre, the Mustangs scored 25 fast-break points, compared to only six by the Panthers.
“Kudos to (SMU’s) offense,” Panthers point guard Damarco Minor said. “They get it out fast, and they took advantage of any opportunity that presented itself. If we didn’t get back, if we didn’t get to the hole, they’d throw lobs. If we were backpedaling, they’d dribble down and make sure they put pressure on us. … They played great in transition. We’ve just got to do better at stopping the ball.”
The Mustangs started slowly, hitting only 2 of their first 13 field goals.
The Panthers built a 19-13 lead around the midway point of the opening half, but the Mustangs tied the score at 22-22 roughly three minutes later.
A Minor free throw with 4:31 left in the first half put Pitt up 30-29, which marked the Panthers’ final lead.
Dunning managed the final basket of the opening half, a layup with 11 seconds on the clock, to inch Pitt within 34-32 at the break, but the Panthers had no answer once play restarted.
Corey Washington drained a 3-pointer, Yigitoglu finished down low and Pierre put in a fastbreak alley-oop within the first 1:57, prompting a Capel timeout.
“Our guards are very fast in transition,” SMU coach Andy Enfield said. “Jaron Pierre, Boopie and B.J. (Edwards) – they’re really good in transition. But you have to get stops on the other end before you can get out in transition.
“Twenty-five fastbreak points is a lot, but our guys did a really good job of sharing the basketball with 20 assists. We lead the league in scoring for a reason. We can score the ball. We just have to defend at the other end to allow us to get out in transition, which we did a great job of in the second half.”
Pitt missed its first five shots of the second half. When Corhen finally scored for Pitt with 16:35 to play, SMU was up 43-34.
From there, the Mustangs maintained a double-digit lead.
A fastbreak layup by Pierre with 11:18 to play made it 61-41 Mustangs, and the closest Pitt would come for the remainder of the afternoon was 14.
“In the second half, we just couldn’t make anything,” Capel said. “For a team that’s struggling like we are, a lot of times guys get energy when they see the ball go through the basket. If it’s not going through the basket, it can suck the energy from them.
“They start thinking, ‘I can’t make a shot,’ and then that affects everything. It affects defense — you stop talking on defense. Your attention to detail on defense maybe slips a little bit. That’s where we have to grow and where our immaturity and our inexperience really, really shows.”