There's been a lot made of Pitt's offense lately and the basketball team has struggled offensively for three straight games now. On Wednesday against Miami, the team shot only 33% from the field in scoring only 59 points in an overtime game. Things were even worse against Virginia with 32% shooting with 45 points. It wasn't quite as bad against Duke, but the 41% shooting and 65 points were both well below the team's season averages.
Pitt has been mired in a deep offensive slump, but things have been even worse down the stretch of games, if you can believe that. Around the 13-minute mark of each game, the Panthers seem to fall apart offensively.
The Panthers faded against Duke, making only five field goals over the final 13 minutes. Over that stretch, Pitt shot only 5-18 - a 28% clip. In the last 13 minutes of that debacle against Virginia, the Panthers made only three field goals and shot 23%. They also made only five of their last ten free throws ... something that matters in a three-point loss. In the narrow escape against Miami, Pitt scored only three field goals over the final 13 minutes and made 18% of their shots.
All teams struggle at some point offensively, but those numbers aren't just down, they're abysmal. When you add it all up, Pitt is actually all kinds of fortunate to have gotten a win out of those three contests.
The Panthers simply have to get going a bit more on offense and that's especially true at the ends of games.
Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and manager/editor of Cardiac Hill @AnsonWhaley
