Monday, 28 January 2013 22:52

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

Tray Woodall is exactly the player Pitt wanted at the foul line with 43 seconds remaining and trailing by three points. He is among the best foul shooters on the team (75 percent) and has made big free throws in the past.

Woodall missed the free throw and finished the night the way it started for the Panthers – with misses at the line. The end result was a 64-61 loss at No. 12 Louisville.

Pitt was 3 for 12 from the line and continued their season-long struggles making free throws. They are shooting 64 percent for the season.

“There’s definitely no explanation for it,” junior forward Lamar Patterson said. “We’ve been practicing. We’ve been running for missing. I didn’t feel like or focus was there at the free throw line. We needed big free throws late in the game and we didn’t come up with them. It’s something we’ll learn from and hopefully we’ll make them later in the season.”

Freshman Steven Adams was 0 for 4 from the line and Trey Zeigler was 1 for 4. Adams is now shooting 32.3 percent (14 for 43) on the season.

“Steve’s shooting the ball well in practice,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “Zeigler’s been improving. Steve’s a good shooter in practice. He’s just not shooting them in games. We’re working hard on it, but we didn’t get it done tonight.”

Comments (2)

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tigerpaul, January 29, 2013 - 04:04 PM

Keep in mind that Woodall missed a 1-and-1 against Cincinnati when Pitt was down three points with under two minutes remaining. I don't mean to harshly criticize Woodall but he needs to perform like a fifth-year senior.

Both games could have had a much different outcome if Woodall makes those free throws and cuts the deficit to one.

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Big Lar, January 31, 2013 - 06:16 PM

Amen to Tigerpaul's comment. Woodall needs to make those free throws as a senior point guard.

What was more discouraging was that immediately after that Louisville's power forward, who was shooting 54% from the line made both ends of a one-on-one to essentially seal the game for Louisville.

+0