There are no good losses. Period. There is no way that the Pittsburgh game will help the Hoyas down the road. It might not matter down the road, but it won’t help. Here’s another thing that won’t help - shooting 3 for 20 from three-point range.

Jon Wallace is a superstar in the Big East. Lately, he has been struggling mightily though with his shot. Wallace struggling with his shot is like Allen Iverson struggling with his crossover, but that’s what seems to be the case. He was only 1 for 7 from three against Connecticut, and against Pitt he was 2 for 7, but the two makes were a half court shot, and a shot after the outcome had been decided.

Jessie Sapp made the Hoyas’ only three against Pittsburgh that came within the half court offense. Austin Freeman and DaJuan Summers both went 0 for 4 from downtown, and Freeman had a number of good looks. Patrick Ewing did a good job providing a spark off the bench, but he also missed a long-range jumper that would’ve been an even bigger help than his thunderous follow dunk.

As bad as the three-point shooting was in the loss to Pittsburgh (and I guarantee it will remain the worst performance of the season), it wasn’t the reason why the Hoyas lost. The real problem was the defense. Pittsburgh had all kinds of trouble making shots in the first half; that’s why even with the Hoyas’ turnovers and poor play, Georgetown was within one at the break.

When the Hoyas came out to start the second half, though, their defense stayed in the locker room. Pitt got out in transition, got wide open looks at the basket, and got the crowd involved. During the stretch where the Hoyas made their run to cut the lead down to three, the offense was important, but the defense got tougher at the same time. The shots became contested, and consequently Pitt stopped making everything they threw up.

The Hoyas probably needed two three-pointers down the stretch to steal this win, and even so their percentage for the game would’ve still been abysmal. Once in a while, every team full of great shooters has a game in which they can’t throw it in the ocean. It happens. But it’s less forgivable to have a team loaded with good defenders that gives up easy baskets. That shouldn’t happen.