The only thing more disappointing than Pittsburgh finishing the regular season winless in ACC play was how close the Panthers came to notching a win in the opening round of play at the ACC Tournament in Brooklyn on Tuesday. 

Holding the last-place No. 15 seed, Pitt was a 17-point underdog to Notre Dame but cut a 12-point halftime deficit down to just three points with nine minutes left to play. The Irish couldn't hit anything in the second half but extended the lead only to see Pitt charge back to down two with less than one minute to play. 

Trailing 65-61 with 11.8 seconds left to play, Pitt coach Kevin Stallings was so frustrated with the state of things -- the Panthers had just fouled Bonzie Colson after an offensive rebound (both shots went in) on one end and turned the ball over on offense -- that he tried to break the clipboard over his knee. 

The clipboard, much like the patience of many fans this year, bent but did not break. The Irish held on to win 67-64. 

Chicago State was winless in WAC action until it snapped a 24-game losing streak in its regular season finale against UKMC. That result left Pittsburgh as the last team in Division I without a conference win and Tuesday's result makes the Panthers 0-19 against ACC opponents. 

A few more notes about Pitt's 0-19 season: 

  • The current 19-game losing streak is the longest losing streak in school history
  • Pitt finished the year 10-9 against the spread, covering against the Irish. The Panthers were underdogs in every game and double-digit underdogs 14 times. 
  • Pitt had a 19.1 points per game point differential in ACC conference play
  • KenPom notes, via WRAL's Lauren Brownlow: Pitt had its second-best offensive efficiency of the season against an ACC opponent and while the defeat was extremely disappointing the performance likely guarantees it won't finish as the worst ACC team since 2002 in Ken Pomeroy's rankings.