The Pitt men’s basketball team was stunned by a 77-64 loss to Rutgers in Big East conference play on Saturday. In a season of hard losses to unranked teams, Pitt couldn’t underestimate any opponent, especially a Big East opponent. Still, in the 100th home game at the Petersen Events Center, Pitt fans never saw this one coming.

Saturday morning the 13th ranked (AP Poll, 17th ESPN/USA Today) Panthers were 4-2 in the Big East (16-3 overall) and in a battle for first place with Georgetown. Rutgers, on the other hand, was battling St. John’s for last place in the Big East with a conference record of 1-6 (9-11 overall).

On a Saturday that saw 5 top 25 teams upset by unranked opponents, the Panthers weren’t spared.

Pitt found themselves in a dogfight throughout the entire first half. The lead changed five times between the two teams, and Pitt’s largest lead of the half came when freshman Bradley Wanamaker hit a layup with 1:20 left. The half ended with Pitt’s thin seven point lead, 32-39.

The Panthers came out strong in the second half and kept Rutgers in check. Pitt’s largest lead of the night, nine points, came with 13:31 left in the second half when freshmen Gilbert Brown made layup making the score 38-47.

Then it began.

With 12:46 remaining, Rutgers’ Jaron Griffin hit a two-point jumper to make the score 40-47. About 40 seconds later, Rutgers’ JR Inman sunk a three-point bucket making the score 43-47. About a minute later, Rutgers’ Cory Chandler made a two-point layup. 59 seconds later, Rutgers’ Mike Coburn made both of his free-throws following a foul by Pitt senior Ronald Ramon. The score was then 47-47.

Not even a Danish boy’s finger could stop the flood gates from breaking open on the Panthers at that point.

Rutgers dominated the Panthers with a 20-2 run that Pitt had no answer for. When the final buzzer sounded, the mighty Oakland Zoo stood silent and the Panthers could only hang their heads as the scoreboard displayed the brutal reality - Rutgers 77, Pitt 64.

“We couldn’t find a way to win, and that is the most disappointing thing,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said after the game.

That was no understatement.

Pitt junior Sam Young, who had been averaging 20.6 points in his last seven games, put up 11 points Saturday. He shot the ball 17 times, but only four of those managed to fall. Young wasn’t alone in poor shooting however.

Pitt shot the ball 26 times to open the second half. Only five of them managed to find nylon. Pitt ended the game 27-70 from the floor, a staggering 38.7 percent. Rutgers was 29-54 (53.7 percent).

Pitt’s freshman-phenom DeJuan Blair went 7-13 from the floor and pulled down 6 rebounds. Blair is averaging 11.8 points this season, and 9.4 rebounds.

Other scoring leaders for the Panthers were Gilbert Brown with 16 points and Sam Young and Keith Benjamin both with 11. The Pitt bench was ice-cold however. Wanamaker led the bench scoring for Pitt with 4 points.

Rutgers’ Mike Coburn went 5-9 from the floor with 17 points. Rutgers’ bench came out swinging, too. Freshman Cory Chandler dropped 18 points and Senior Byron Joynes finished with 10 points off the bench.

Rutgers did manage to turn the ball over 19 times to Pitt’s 13.

Pitt’s free-throw attempts ended at 4-8 (50.0 percent) while Rutgers shot 10-14 (71.4 percent) from the charity stripe.

Pitt was out-rebounded 29-13 in the second half (38-35 overall).

“When you are out-rebounded 16 to 1, you can’t possibly win,” Dixon said. “I told the players that.”

Pitt is now 16-4 team that has struggled with unranked opponents this year, especially in Big East play. The Panthers lost their Big East opener at Villanova (13-5) 64-63. Pitt then lost again on Jan. 19 at unranked Cincinnati (9-10) 62-59. Pitt is now 5-4 in their last nine games.

The men’s basketball team will be back in action Wednesday Jan. 30 for a rematch with Villanova for the 101st home game at the Pete.