Pitt was thoroughly embarrassed in a disappointing showing in the Maui Invitational against San Diego State in an ugly 17-point loss. And in case you weren't sure if the Panthers realized how bad they looked, at least one player did.
In fact, Mike Young credited that to the team putting forth a big effort against Kansas State to win third place in the tournament.
Young's response to a question about Pitt's urgency on defense improving against the Wildcats made it pretty clear that the Panthers didn't like being beaten down as they were against the Aztecs. When asked about what changed from the San Diego State game, Young said, "Being embarrassed on national television. I mean, that will do it. I mean, basically we got embarrassed last night and everybody went back to the hotel and it was a bad feeling."
The turnaround in effort after the San Diego State contest was good to see. The young team learned a little bit of a lesson, it seems, and that game against the Aztecs may have been the wake up call the Panthers needed.
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