No, Pitt didn't lose, but winning 83-79 at the Pete against La Salle ... well, not much else to say.
Ashton Gibbs 3-15? That's the least of our worries. At least we've seen enough of him to know that tonight's showing from him was an anomaly. The big problem tonight? 21 turnovers - nearly twice as many as in any other game so far. If you need to know, how many that is - this. Every player who got in the lineup turned it over once except for Khem Birch (more on him later).
The team just looked downright sloppy and apathetic tonight. Not sure what it was - you could blame it on lackluster competition or even the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, but Pitt didn't really come ready to play. They did open up an 11-point lead in the first half, but the game was close throughout and the Panthers never did much in the way of trying to force the issue.
The last thing we should do is declare the season a bust or even say that Pitt is going to underachieve. This should go without saying, but it's too early to make those kinds of declarations. But it's disturbing that Pitt hasn't looked all that good in any game other than the opener against Albany.
Good news? Well Pitt got some good minutes from a few key members of the bench tonight.
J.J. Moore had nine points - all on three-pointers and six rebounds. He was expected to be the starter or at the very least, the biggest scorer off Pitt's bench. So far, he's not done much of anything, but he played really well tonight.Then there was Khem Birch. Birch had done just about as much as Moore had this season, but had a great game tonight. In limited minutes he had two big-time baskets, seven rebounds, and four blocks. I'm not a huge fan of the 'blocked shot' stat, which many times can lead to an offensive putback, but his blocks were really timely tonight and seemed to get the crowd going a bit. And those seven rebounds? They led the team.
Pitt had a big advantage in rebounding tonight (39-21) and the team has been missing just that. If Birch can provide that, I'd be more than willing to see more of him.