Takeaways: Pitt Ends Season in Brutal, but Fitting Fashion

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers ended their season in a very fitting way, a loss that was disheartening and annoying.

Pitt’s 55-54 loss to Notre Dame was a microcosm of Pitt’s entire season. All season, Pitt lost games to opponents they shouldn’t have, didn’t take advantage of a down year for the ACC — which head coach Jeff Capel even admitted — and wasted a roster that on paper is talented enough to make March Madness.

Pitt men’s basketball’s 2024-2025 season is two things — disheartening and annoying.

Annoyances of the Loss for the Panthers

The annoying part of the 55-54 loss was not just the Panthers' faults, but the refs too. The refs were an annoyance because they took over the game with one of the most ridiculous foul calls on redshirt senior forward Zack Austin in the last-second of regulation to hand the game to Notre Dame.

But Pitt had many other opportunities to beat Notre Dame. Pitt's reason for losing wasn’t just the foul call on Austin. Pitt played bad offensive basketball against Notre Dame.

The Panthers shot 36.2% from the field and a horrible 18.2% from deep. Teams have to make shots to win basketball games and the Panthers simply couldn’t do that against the Fighting Irish.

Pitt’s brutal offensive performance doesn’t end there, it went 11-for-19 on layups and 1-for-3 on dunks, good for only 54.6% on shots right next to the basket.

The Panthers' all-around offensive struggles weren’t even far behind what the Fighting Irish produced on offense against them. The Fighting Irish shot 39.6% from the field, 20% from three-point range and 11-for-19 on layups — all fractionally better than the Panthers.

And in true Pitt fashion, it took them over three and a half minutes for Pitt to score its first basket of the game. Pitt put itself in a hole to start the game over and over in ACC play and it was nothing different for Pitt in the ACC Tournament.

But head coach Jeff Capel’s mismanagement of the basketball game in the last minute is the most annoying part of the loss. Capel refused to go for the two-for-one, allowing Notre Dame to get the last shot, and had sophomore guard Jaland Lowe play as the primary ball-handler in the last possession, something he has struggled tremendously with this season.

Most of the things Pitt fans complained about all season long happened against Notre Dame. In 15 years, when people want to know what this season was like, this game would serve as the best example.

A Disheartening Loss for the Pitt Program

As annoying as the loss is, it is safer to say that the loss is more disheartening than anything, especially for Pitt’s two graduating seniors who played against Notre Dame.

Austin ended his career with a game-losing foul that he didn’t seem to commit, just a brutal, brutal way to end a collegiate career. But that’s not it, he also missed two dunks in a game that was decided by one point, and there is no doubt that those two misses will also leave him restless.

The Winston-Salem, N.C. native also had to deal with people berating him in his Instagram DM’s, something no one should have to deal with.

Senior guard Ishmael Leggett may not have ended his career in as disheartening of a way, but it still wasn’t his best. He tied his season-low in points with four and shot 2-for-9 from the field, missing all three of his shots from beyond-the-arc.

Leggett led the Panthers in rebounds and steals with seven and three, respectively. But the poor shooting from Panthers’ second-leading scorer makes his career ending like this a little bit more disheartening.

Everyone subconsciously knew the season was over a long time ago, but seeing it officially end like this is two things — annoying and disheartening

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