PITTSBURGH _ It was all there for Pitt, a game in which victory seemed to be within reach more times than the fingers on that reaching hand could count.
In a game they had led for all but seven minutes, the Panthers held a seven-point advantage Tuesday over No. 11 Louisville with three minutes remaining following a 3-pointer from Trey McGowens that sent an already charged crowd into hysteria. After the disappointment of an eight-point loss Sunday at Miami, it appeared as though Pitt was about to do what it has for so much of its season _ playing so underwhelming in one moment but so inspired in the next.
This time, it would have come complete with a win against not only a top-15 team, but one of the top programs in college basketball history.
Faced with that opportunity, the Panthers were unable to hold on, watching control slip away from them until it was too late.
McGowens poured in 24 points, the second time he has done so in the past six days, but Pitt was undone by inopportune offensive impotency and, in the second time in as many games against Louisville, a controversial foul call in a 73-68 loss against the Cardinals at Petersen Events Center.
Trailing by two, 70-68, with about 30 seconds remaining, Pitt had just forced a turnover on a Louisville inbounds pass, getting an opportunity to take a late lead in a game it had, before that miscue, been hoping to stay in.
After a McGowens runner went awry, it looked to be tipped in by center Terrell Brown, but he was called for a foul, though it looked on replay as though the 6-10 junior had merely reached over a shorter player to get to the ball with minimal, if any, contact.
The Cardinals made both free throws on the other end to push their lead to two possessions with 21 seconds left.
Tuesday's loss was a continuation of a recent spurt for McGowens. The sophomore had scored in double figures in each of Pitt's previous six games, averaging 16.5 points and 4.3 assists per game in that span. On the season, he's the team's leading scorer at 13.2 points per game.
Justin Champagnie and Xavier Johnson also finished in double figures, scoring 11 apiece. Johnson also had a team-high five assists.
Following a 3 from Dwayne Sutton, Louisville got within two, 56-54, with about four minutes remaining. The Panthers (11-6, 2-4 ACC), however, responded with a basket and pushed their lead to seven.
With the game getting close to getting out of reach, the Cardinals started to look the part of a top-15 team, getting seven unanswered points in just 122 seconds to tie the score, the last point of which came on a free throw from freshman David Johnson with 50 seconds left.
McGowens had a chance to take the lead on the final possession, but misfired on a deep 3 with six seconds remaining. (A half-court heave from Sutton at the buzzer missed, as well.)
A day earlier, Pitt coach Jeff Capel had discussed the challenges his team would face with a two-day turnaround, one that forced them to play 47 hours after its loss Sunday to Miami had finished. There was the potential for fatigue, not necessarily from playing, but from arriving home late after making the longest road trip of its ACC season and having to play so quickly after it.
If they were tired in any way, the Panthers didn't show it early.
Pitt began the game uncharacteristically hot from 3, making its first four shots and five of its first 10 attempts from deep.
By doing so, it jumped out to a 24-15 lead. Following a jumper from McGowens, however, the Panthers went the next 5:18 without a point, the sixth time in the past seven games they've gone scoreless for at least four minutes. In that time, Louisville stormed back, even briefly taking the lead before Pitt went into halftime up three, 31-28, after leading for nearly 14 of the first 20 minutes.
After coming into the evening shooting just 29.5% from beyond the arc as a team, ranking it among the 40 worst teams in Division I, Pitt made seven of its 19 3s (36.8%). However, it made only two of its final nine. Unlike their first matchup with Louisville, one in which they attempted a season-low six free throws, the Panthers excelled at getting to the line as they have for so much of the season, getting 26 free throws (of which, they made 19).
Defensively, it held the Cardinals, one of the top 20 teams in college basketball in offensive efficiency, to 38.3% shooting, including just 31.4% on 2-pointers.
The Panthers return to action Saturday with a game against North Carolina, who they beat last week, 73-65, on the road. The Tar Heels will walk into that matchup carrying a three-game losing streak.
