Louisville News, Pittsburgh News, Ray Mernagh

PITT’S CLASSIC COMEBACK LEAVES LOUISVILLE FEELING ILL(MATIC)

by RAY MERNAGH

Louisville guard Edgar Sosa was streaking towards the basket all alone.

Seconds earlier, Pitt’s Brad Wanamaker, had knocked down a three-pointer off a perfectly run out of bounds play to bring the Panther within a point, 68-67, with 15.6 seconds left in regulation. Somehow, Sosa had leaked behind the Pittsburgh defense and caught a deep pass from Samardo Samuels. Sosa had the entire width of the court, plus maybe a 15-20 foot lead on Pitt’s Gilbert Brown. Brown took off from mid-court like a, well, like a Panther really, chasing down smaller prey. “I thought Gil would catch him,” Jermaine Dixon told me, “but I was nervous because he had to make up so much ground.”

The Pitt bench, plus the folks in the crowd intelligent enough not to leave a two-possession game with 42.7 seconds left, let out what can best be described as a collective, audible gasp. Sosa clearly had no intention on stopping, or changing direction to pull the ball out, so it was on Brown to prevent the easy two points and more importantly, put the shaky-foul-shooting-Sosa back on the line.

Brown struggled all afternoon in what was his most forgettable performance of his young season. But, like the rest of this team, when he saw his chance to make an important play, he sprang into action. Brown caught Sosa just as the New York native was preparing to go up and smothered the ball, Sosa’s arms and body in an artistic way that prevented the refs from even thinking about an intentional foul call (despite what U of L coach Rick Pitino said afterwards). Sosa’s face was tormented, even as he flailed his arms and screamed to ensure the foul, because he realized, once again, he’d have to go back to the free throw line.

Plenty of time remained, 11.7 seconds, after Sosa hit one of his two shots to make it 69-67 Louisville.

Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs raised up for a three and appeared to get handled in a way that would suggest the Louisville player was trying to rob him of his wallet right there on the court. The ball flew out of bounds, no where near the rim. Still Pitt ball.

Big East.

No blood no foul.

Channeling Jay Bilas here: “He’s only the shooter.” Later Gibbs would say only that he “got bumped a little” and shrug his ever-broadening shoulders. Pitt inbounded the ball and Brad Wanamaker dribbled through the middle of the lane and got tangled with Louisville’s Jerry Smith before crashing to the floor.

Whistle.

Foul.

They mopped up the blood — just kidding…a little. Wanamaker’s nostrils actually were plugged with Kleenex from an earlier blow.

1.9 seconds were left as the kid from Philly stepped to the line. No credit cards or checks accepted at this juncture, you gotta pay in cash.

And Wanamaker, taking the advice of Gibbs and, “pretending I was all alone shooting after practice,” was straight money.

69-69.

Overtime. Amazing (wonder if the doors locked behind those folks who left?).

Louisville looked like Jay-Z probably did the first time he heard the “Ether” track.

Quick explanation for the uninformed: Jay-Z once did a song attacking Queens rapper Nas called the “Takeover” that belittled Nas for never duplicating his debut album (the classic Illmatic). And Hip hop fans were feeling it really…until Nas responded with “Ether.” The fact that Jay-Z still has a career is a testament to both his will and talent, because Nas absolutely destroyed him (think Michael Spinks vs Tyson-type beatdown).

So Louisville came out in the overtime staggering and forgetting a strategy they’d followed up until late in the game. A strategy, frankly, that should have been enough to win them this game -feeding the beast that is Samardo Samuels (25 points). Instead, they played like they were punch-drunk, ignoring Samuels (who didn’t get one shot attempt in the extra session). Pitt’s Jermaine Dixon took advantage of the lapse by stripping the ball of the knee of the driving Sosa on Louisville’s first OT possession.

Dixon missed a jumper, but Pitt’s own Nas (Robinson, playing a monster game) got the offensive rebound and the ball eventually found the kid they simply call “Ash”. Ashton Gibbs didn’t hesitate, pulling up and knocking down a three. 72-69 Pitt. “First really good look I got all night,” Gibbs told me later.

Again, Louisville tried to go to the rack and ignored Samuels. This time, Preston Knowles (who finished with 21) missed a driving layup at the 3:48 mark. Samuels didn’t stop playing on defense despite his visible frustration at not getting the ball, blocked a shot by Wanamaker but Pitt retained possession and Dixon made a huge basket to put the Panthers up 74-69. Both teams had empty possessions before there was some confusion by Pitt on defense and nobody stepped up to stop the ball. Sosa took advantage by nailing a three, to cut it back to a two-point game (74-72 Pitt).

Gary McGhee then got a huge put back to fall off a Wanamaker miss (76-72 Pitt). Dixon stripped Sosa again with 1:38 left and tried to put the dagger in, after Jared Swopshire hit two freebies, with a middle drive jump-stop that he uses so effectively to put Pitt up 78-74 with 38 ticks left. It took 13 seconds for Knowles to cut it to one by hitting his fifth three of the game (on seven attempts). Gibbs was fouled and hit both then Swopshire missed a three of his own with 7 seconds left.

Wanamaker rebounded the miss and found Dixon running. Nobody caught him.

Ballgame 82-77 Pitt.

Nas Robinson finished with 26 points (on 11-14 shooting) and 11 rebounds. He battled Rakeen Buckles and Samardo Samuels all day on the glass (with help from McGhee). Samuels would grab 6 boards and Buckles none in 13 minutes. Robinson ran the floor and finished, hit his free throws (“he practices them every day and you can see that paying off for him now” said his coach) and only committed 2 turnovers in 42 minutes. On a day when his team needed a big game from somebody, Robinson (along with Wanamaker) stepped up and filled that role.

Dixon, the coach, almost got emotional when asked about Robinson post-game: “I love that kid. I remember recruiting him. You find things wrong with him but he plays so hard and just keeps getting better. He brings energy, is positive, and works hard. He played well against UConn. His numbers weren’t big, but his energy and his positive attitude were. He’s finding his role on the team. He’s a good kid and I’m proud of him.”

Pitino said the loss was devastating. “Outside of Duke with Christian Laettner, I think this is the worst loss I’ve experienced from a team playing so well and putting themselves in a situation to win,” he said in the Louisville locker room afterwards, “a very, very disheartening loss.”

Disheartening for Louisville no doubt, a nausea-inspiring loss.

For Pitt?

It was a classic, made possible in large part by a kid from Chester by the name of Nasir.

Lets dub it the “Illmatic Game” if you will.

Seems to fit for both sides.

*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****