Pitt Leaning on Prior Experience to Bounce Back

The Pitt Panthers have experience of coming back from losing streaks.

Jan 18, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Ishmael Leggett (5) warms up before the game against the Clemson Tigers at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers are currently on a losing skid that threatens to derail their postseason hopes, but they've also been in this position before.

Pitt is on a four-game losing streak, suffering a blowout 76-47 defeat to then ranked No. 4 Duke on the road on Jan. 7, a close 82-78 defeat to Louisville at home on Jan. 11, ending a 15-game winning streak at the Petersen Events Center, a road loss, 82-70 to Florida State on Jan. 15 and an overtime home loss to Clemson, 78-75 at home on Jan. 18.

The Panthers also hosted a players-only meeting at 4:00 a.m., following their trip back after the loss to the Seminoles, which ended in a a scuffle postgame.

While this is the longest losing streak for Pitt since they lost the final five games of the 2021-22 season, they've also had a poor stretches the past two seasons as well.

They started 1-3 in the 2022-23 season, before turning it around and finishing the campaign 24-12 overall, 14-6 in the ACC. The Panthers ended their seven-year NCAA Tournament drought and made it to the Second Round, winning multiple NCAA Tournament games for the first time since 2009.

Pitt struggled in ACC play last season, with a 1-5 start. They suffered home losses to Clemson, No. 11 Duke and No. 8 North Carolina, and also lost home-and-away to rival Syracuse.

The Panthers found their best form following that poor start, finishing the regular season with 11 wins out of their final 14 contests, ending with a 12-8 conference record and the No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament.

Pitt would, controversially, just miss out on the NCAA Tournament, but their strong finish to the season showed they were deserving of a spot.

The Panthers are currently in a better spot this season with their postseason hopes, as a solid non-conference schedule/record has them at 12-6 overall and No. 32 in the NET Rankings.

Still, they know they can't allow this losing streak to continue, especially against the weaker teams of the ACC, which would force them off the bubble.

One player who excelled towards the end of last season for Pitt is sophomore guard Jaland Lowe.

Lowe dealt with injury early in the season, but would start the final 19 games of the season, leading the Panthers to a 13-6 record. He also averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 assists and 3.6 rebounds in 35.0 minutes per game, while shooting 40.8% from the field, 40.3% from 3-point range and 86.4% from the foul line.

He is confident that this team can turn it around and that their experience from doing it last season will allow them to do it again.

“Last year, we just stayed together," Lowe said. "Confident in what our abilities were and this year, same thing. We’re super confident, just go to get back on the right page, altogether, as one group on the floor together and that’s the same thing as last year and hopefully we’ll get this thing back on the right track.”

Panthers senior guard Ishmael Leggett is another player that had a great end to last season, as he won the ACC Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Leggett took responsibility for the recent losses, mentioned that he and the players themselves need to give it their all every game and that they need to have a "Pittsburgh toughness" each and every game.

“Yeah, I definitely think there’s some similarities. Obviously, we didn’t we start they wanted last year and we’re not at the place we want to be this year and the thing I try and vocalize is, “No one’s coming to save us.” The coaches emphasize it too, but the players, we’re on the court and nobody’s coming to just give us a win. We gotta earn it, off the floor, on the floor and we gotta take what we want, like, nothing is given.”

Pitt will look to end their losing streak as they face Syracuse on the road on Jan. 25 at 12:30 p.m.

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