Pitt lost a heart breaker to Butler on Saturday night 71-70. Losing in the tournament always stings, but this one hurt worse for me than any other loss in Pitt history. Sure, Villanova was tough 2 years ago. They were the better team and made a great play to win the game. That's not what happened Saturday night.
Most of you probably already know how Pitt lost the game and I'm not going to go into great detail. The more time I spend thinking about it, the worse I feel. Gilbert Brownmade 1 of 2 free throw attempts, then Nasir Robinson fouled a Butler player with 0.8 seconds left on the clock. Blame can be dealt to Brown for missing the free throw, Robinson for committing a stupid foul, or the coaching staff for even having players on the line at that point. Throwing blame doesn't make me feel better.
My heart breaks for Nasir Robinson. He was quoted after the game saying "I take the blame for this loss. I made a dumb play. I apologize to my teammates and the fans". He knows what he did was stupid and cost Pitt the game. Nobody feels worse than Nasir Robinson right now, and that's something he'll have to live with the rest of his life.
My heart breaks for Gilbert Brown who scored 24 points and carried the Pitt team on his back. His final foul shot attempt was close to going in and bounced the wrong way into the hands of Butler's Matt Howard. Brown is a senior and this is what he'll be remembered for. He was also quick to blame himself noting "everything could have been avoided if I make a free throw."
My heart breaks for the Seniors who will never get to put on a Pitt jersey and play in front of the Oakland Zoo again. Especially Brad Wanamaker who tweeted this after the game "my night can't get any worse just got news that my former high school coach passed".
This one is going to sting for a long time. We were 0.8 seconds away....
by Emily Mallon
Talking about life, sports, politics, and everything else imaginable.
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