It was the third straight loss for Villanova (10-13, 3-8 Big East), playing for the first time since Jan. 28 - when it coughed up an 18-point lead against Marquette to lose, 82-78. The season continues to be a rough one for the Wildcats, who must finish 5-2 to get to .500 for the regular season.
"It's an inconsistency of inexperience - that's exactly what it is," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We did some good things. We did some real good things hanging in there and not going away. But at the start of the second half, to give up baskets, to foul like we did . . . that's inexperience."
The experienced guys struggled, too. Junior Maalik Wayns, who rarely got a chance to breathe against the Panthers' attentive defense, needed 22 shots for 18 points and went 1 for 10 from three-point range. Junior Mouphtaou Yarou missed his first eight shots.
"I think we were right there," Wayns said. "I think if a couple of more shots go down, a couple of more layups fall, it's a different game. When you play on the road, you have to be perfect. You have to be 5 to 10 points better than them. You can't just play as good as a [home] team, especially in the Big East."
The Panthers (15-9, 4-7) won their fourth in a row and improved to 4-1 since junior point guard Travon "Tray" Woodall returned from an abdominal tear and a strained groin. Woodall finished with a career-high 29 points, and backcourt mate Ashton Gibbs added 25, and the pair combined to go 19 for 19 on free throws.
Pitt took control in the first half with a 22-2 run over a five-minute stretch in which the Wildcats went without a basket. That turned a 21-16 Wildcats lead into a 38-23 deficit for the visitors. A layup by Chester High's Nasir Robinson gave Pitt a 49-31 lead with 16 minutes, 42 seconds to play, and a blowout was looming.
