What Stood Out in Stanford's Loss to Pitt in the ACC Tournament

Going into Tuesday’s ACC tournament game, the Stanford Cardinal were absolutely rolling. Four straight wins both at home and on the road and dominant performances contributed to the Cardinal's success. However, they needed two more wins to qualify for March Madness. Unfortunately, things didn’t go their way in the first round of the conference tournament.

Stanford, a No. 10 seed, matched up with the Pitt Panthers, a 15 seed. Pitt, coming in at just 12-19, didn’t have much to play for, outside of a farfetched hope of a potential conference championship. After a down season, they could have been playing hard to help preserve head coach Jeff Capel's job.

Despite coming in with so much to play for, the Cardinal came in looking like a shell of themselves. They couldn’t get in the paint offensively, couldn’t get rebounds on either end, and had to rely on their shooting. They ended up shooting 48% from the field, but it ended up not being enough.

Pitt went into the half with a commanding 31-23 lead, and it looked like the Panthers had a significant chance of going through. However, Stanford was clearly the better team on paper, and began to showcase that fact in the second half.

Ebuka Okorie started to step up despite just two points in the first half, and even players such as Benny Gealer and AJ Rohosy started to perform down the stretch.

With just 26 seconds left in the game, Stanford trailed by two. But it was Okorie to the rescue, who hit a driving layup plus the foul to propel the Cardinal in front by one. But on the defensive end, things didn’t go their way.

Damarco Minor got the ball, drove to the basket and missed, but got his own rebound and put it back up with just 0.7 seconds remaining. Stanford was unable to inbound the ball thanks to that stout Pitt defense, and that was the end of the game, and probably Stanford's hopes at reaching the NCAA tournament.

Stanford’s rebounding struggles occurred again, but this time, it lost them the game, and essentially their season. That lack of defensive rebounds provided Pitt with multiple chances enough times that it helped them hang around in this one. Essentially those second-chance points were what went wrong for the Cardinal.

It was a heartbreaking loss for Stanford and their fans after such a solid season, overcoming a key injury to make a late push towards the Madness. It’s been a great season under Kyle Smith, and the Cardinal were just two wins away from making their first NCAA tournament in 13 years. But unfortunately Stanford fell just short, falling 64-63.

What comes next for Stanford

It looks like the Cardinal will likely be a top seed in the NIT. The good news is that this likely means a trip back home to Maples Pavilion one final time. But the bad news is, obviously, March Madness is much better than the NIT.

Despite a slow night, Okorie led the Cardinal in scoring, putting up 14 points. Gealer finished with 11, Rohosy had 10, and Ryan Agarwal got nine off the bench. It was an all-around effort, but no player truly stepped up.

Barry Dunning Jr. led the Panthers in scoring, putting up 16. Roman Siulepa had 14 himself, while despite a poor defensive game, Cameron Corhen still finished with 12.

Stanford will now wait until Sunday, where they will become a likely NIT team. Times and dates will be released later this weekend as well.

Pitt takes on the NC State Wolfpack tomorrow at noon ET, with hopes of extending a potential Cinderella story in March.

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