Late Game Comebacks Key to Pitt's Success

Down seven with a minute to go in Pitt’s game Friday night against West Virginia I thought that the game was over. Then all of a sudden after a few Mountaineer missed free throws and a couple quick Pitt baskets, they were down only three when Ashton Gibbs’ deep three tied the game to send it to overtime.

The Panthers eventual triple-overtime win will go down as the best game to date at the Peterson Events Center but some Pitt fans weren’t even there to see the overtime periods, as they had already left assuming that the game was over.

But with this year’s Panthers team, seemingly no opponents lead is safe. They have come from behind three times this season to send a game to overtime against Duquesne, Louisville and West Virginia; before eventually winning all three.

Against Duquesne they trailed by 13 at halftime and were still behind by nine with nine minutes to play in regulation before winning in double-overtime. In that game the comeback was spurred by Gibbs’ hot hand late in the game and Jamie Dixon’s decision to switch to a 2-3 zone in the second half.

In the game against Louisville, Pitt was down by six with two minutes left in regulation and by five with a minute to play. But late missed free throws by Louisville, including four by Edgar Sosa, allowed the Panthers to creep back into the game. Clutch shooting by Brad Wannamaker, scoring the team’s last five points in regulation, tied the game up with one second left and Pitt never looked back in overtime.

But the greatest of all the comebacks was last Friday night. Afterwards Gil Brown said it was the best game he’d ever played in and I’m sure most of the other players would say the same thing. All of those comebacks have been crucial for the Panthers this season, and that’s not even counting their come from behind victory in the season opener when they trailed by six points with six minutes to go in the win against Wofford.

 Just think if Pitt hadn’t pulled off those comebacks. Their NCAA tournament hopes would be slim and they would be playing for their tournament lives right now. But the fact is, they did win those games and coming from behind and winning close games are signs of a good team.

So if Pitt’s behind late in another game this season, don’t turn off the TV or leave the game early because this team plays to the final buzzer.