Pitt vs. Michigan: Panthers fade during key stretch, lose 67-62

For about 30 minutes, Pitt played right there with Michigan. The last ten minutes? A different story.

Right around the 12-minute mark, Michigan went on a 12-3 run and that was your ballgame.

As a whole, if you didn't watch the game, it'd be hard to be disappointed. Pitt was playing against the No. 4 team in the country and for much of the game, actually held a lead. But if you actually watched, you know just how frustrating it was.

Pitt did next to nothing in the second half and only hung in the game because Michigan struggled a bit as well. The Panthers had a seven-minute stretch where they scored a grand total of three points. You can't win many games that way and ultimately, that was the part that killed Pitt.

Individually, a good thing for Pitt was the play of Lamar Patterson. Patterson was, without a doubt, Pitt's best player with 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists. He did that on 5-9 shooting and had his best game of the season. We can talk all we want about J.J. Moore, but the Panthers will be better off having both guys play well. It was a big step forward for Patterson, who's struggled a good bit.

Speaking of struggling, we've got to hit on Steven Adams. Adams was non-existent in this one and had Pitt gotten even a little from him, the outcome may have been different. He was scoreless, but even more importantly, just didn't look like he belonged. He wasn't a factor, not even registering a point and hauling in a single rebound. Before we jump all over Adams, the loss is hardly all on him. But if Pitt wants to beat some of the better teams on their schedule, they'll need more from him. A lot more.

And while we're talking about goats, go ahead and put Tray Woodall in that category. Sorry, but as a senior, you've simply got to do more. Woodall had six points on 2-7 shooting and three turnovers to go with his three assists. Realistically, that isn't enough from one of the team's best players in the biggest game of the season to date.

Overall, if there's one thing to take away from this, it's that Pitt just needs to get better if they want to be considered an elite team. The Panthers have some pieces and have crazy depth, but Michigan (who played pretty well defensively, by the way) proved that there's still a good bit of work to do.

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