Pitt Basketball: Team Feasting On Bad Defense

Pitt's turned their season around a bit since some early struggles in the loss against Long Beach State (who we're seeing is a pretty respectable team) and close wins against Rider and La Salle. The Panthers are now 9-1 and looking every bit like a top 25 team.

But what's gone a bit under the radar is the quality of defense Pitt's faced so far. Let's just say they've had it pretty easy.

The Panthers, who normally face a tougher non-conference schedule, have played against some pretty bad defenses. Only two teams (Robert Morris and Oklahoma State) are ranked in the top 100 in scoring defense.

In addition, only two (Oklahoma State and La Salle) are ranked in the top 100 in field goal percentage defense. That's significant because Pitt is ranked tenth in field goal percentage on offense. In a nutshell, the team has been shooting lights out, but part of that is probably due to facing some pretty weak competition.

Pitt is going to see an entirely different level of defense in the Big East and will almost assuredly struggle again at some point this year.

(Stats taken from games ending through last week).