The No. 9 Pittsburgh Panthers (15-4) lost for the second straight game, losing to Seton Hall 64-61 Sunday afternoon.
The Panthers who have been the talk of the Big East after a 5-0 start are now 5-2 in conference play after back-to-back losses. Pitt’s five-game road win streak was also snapped.
Former Pitt recruit Herb Pope had 19 points and nine rebounds, leading Seton Hall to their biggest win in over four years since head coach Bobby Gonzalez took over at Seton Hall.
Ashton Gibbs led Pitt with 23 points but was 4-for-15 from the field and 1-for-7 from 3-point range. It was an off night for Gibbs who for his part was 14-for-14 at the free throw line.
Jermaine Dixon added 11 points for Pitt as the Panthers only had two players score double-digit points.
Pitt rebounded defensively after Wednesday’s lackluster performance but were not efficient in the offensive end, shooting 33.3% in the second half. Overall, Pitt shot just 35.3 percent (18-51) from the floor, its third worst field goal percentage on the year.
This was a game that got away from Pitt but in the Big East, these type of losses are going to happen.
A cocern for Pitt moving forward is their lack of secondary scoring.
*The loss drops Pitt to 15-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big East Conference. Seton Hall improves to 12-6 overall and 3-4 in the Big East. The Panthers are back in action on Thursday at home against St. John’s in what will be a crucial game for the Panthers.
*Pitt lost two consecutive games for only the seventh total time since Jamie Dixon took over as head coach. Pitt has lost three consecutive games only two times since the 2003-04 season.
