On the afternoon of Dec. 9, Alumni Arena was certainly the place to be as the Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team came to town ranked second in the nation. The 6,350 screaming fans, the third-largest crowd in the history of Alumni Arena, saw the Bulls ahead throughout the entire first half before they squandered an 11-point second half lead.
The Panthers came into the game with a record of 10-0, and a 133-33 record over the past five years. Pittsburgh won their first nine games by eight points or more. The Panthers were heavily favored to defeat the Bulls who at the time were 6-4.
However, Pittsburgh was not surprised by how close the game ended up.
"It was exactly what we thought it would be," said Panthers head coach Jamie Dixon. "We knew it would be a tough game. We knew how good they were. We knew how well coached they were. This is a great win for us."
Senior forward Yassin Idbihi led all scorers with 14 points in the first half as Buffalo held the advantage early. Pittsburgh was able to shut him down after the break however, as he was 2-12 from the field with just four points in the second half.
Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon used only two bench players. Buffalo showed signs of being tired as they were outscored 27-14 over the last 14 minutes of the game.
"(The Panthers) jump on you right away and then you can't get out of that hole because they defend you so well," Witherspoon said. "We wanted to be able to play without playing in a hole. We did that, but we probably extended ourselves a little bit, too. In the second half, there probably was some fatigue."
The game started off with each team missing their first two field goals, before Aaron Gray a preseason All-American center for the Panthers hit a jumper to start the scoring. Senior forward Parnell Smith and Idbihi combined to score the next seven points of the game and put the Bulls ahead.
Gray hit another shot to pull the Panthers within three, but that is as close as Pittsburgh would get in the first half. With 11:46 remaining in the half, sophomore guard Eric Moore made a three-pointer to put Buffalo up, 21-10.
The teams went into the locker rooms for halftime with the Bulls leading, 42-35.
Buffalo looked to be in control when a lay-up by sophomore guard Greg Gamble with 14:09 left in the game put the Bulls up 53-43. However, Pittsburgh responded with nine straight points to cut the margin to one.
The score remained close for the rest of the game, and coming out of a time out Buffalo trailed the Panthers, 68-65, with six seconds left. Though he was only 1-10 from beyond the three point mark on the day Idbihi attempted the game tying shot that failed. Smith gathered up the rebound to bring Buffalo back within one.
After a time-out, forward Levon Kendall was able to throw the ball almost the length of the court for an uncontested lay-up by guard Levance Fields as time expired.
"We played a pretty good basketball game and the reason we came up a little bit short is because they are a great team," Witherspoon said. "I said that coming in and there was nothing that took place that changed my mind about them."
According to Dixon, the handoffs the Bulls did around the perimeter gave Pittsburgh problems.
"They have a unique offense," Dixon said. "We don't see it a lot. They have big guys that can play out on the perimeter. They can pass the ball and handle the ball so well. They are a very good team "
Idbihi finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds. However, he was just 1-10 from beyond the arc. For the Panthers, Gray had a double-double of his own with 19 points and 11 boards.
Moore, who finished with 14 points, hit big shots throughout the game. He left an impression with Dixon.
"Moore was unbelievable," Dixon said. "I mean, look at his stat line: four assists, no turnovers, 4-7 from three. He made shots and he made plays."
After leading most of the way, it was only natural that the Bulls were hurt after losing the close game.
"I'm a little disappointed and heart broke that we gave them the game at the end," Moore said. "We had some mental lapses towards the end. It's just something that we have to learn from."
Witherspoon insisted that it was important not to be over-confident after almost defeating such a highly ranked opponent.
"We have got to be of mindset that we've got to push to get better," Witherspoon said. "This is going to be a mental challenge that we've got to push through."
Dixon spoke highly of the crowd and the work done by Witherspoon to improve the program.
"I hope this environment is like this every game," Dixon said. "These kids deserve that. This team, this program and what he's done deserves this kind of support. I think it's tremendous what he's done."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
