The frustration of a season gone bad was clear in the voice of Pitt assistant coach Jason Capel after the Panthers’ 76-72 loss to Notre Dame.

With all of its goals at stake Saturday afternoon inside Purcell Pavilion, Pitt (16-11, 7-9 ACC) couldn’t keep up with a crippled Notre Dame team and left South Bend, Ind., with a defeat that may have ended the Panthers’ NCAA Tournament hopes.

“They played harder. It’s OK to say that. It’s unfortunate to say that, but it’s OK to say that.” Capel said on the 93.7 FM postgame show. He was specifically referring to the second half when the Irish (12-15, 6-10) seized control after the score was tied 30-30 at the halftime break.

“They played harder, and that’s disappointing. Talk about come out, set the tone. We didn’t do that. Words have to turn into action.”

The lead changed hands nine times in the second half before Notre Dame’s Markus Burton hit a 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 29 seconds left in the game to give the Irish a 59-54 lead, its largest to that point. Fifty seconds later, Burton scored at the end of the shot clock and from there the Irish continued to build upon their lead. Notre Dame’s largest advantage was 67-56 with 2:43 to play.

Pitt rallied to within 74-72, largely on two 3-pointers by Ishmael Leggett and a follow basket by Brandin Cummings with 8.7 seconds left. The Irish lost the ensuing inbounds pass, and Pitt created a tie-up but the possession arrow was in Notre Dame’s favor. J.R. Konieczny sealed the four-point victory with two free throws.

Burton finished with 20 points, including nine in a decisive four-minute span of the second half. Trae Davis led the Irish with 21.

Leggett was Pitt’s leading scorer with 21 points, followed by Cam Corhen (20), Jaland Lowe (13) and Guillermo Diaz Graham (11). Zack Austin was held to five while attempting only four shots.

“We battled back at the end,” said Capel, the brother of head coach Jeff Capel, “but you can’t get to the end and try to make up for things that should have been put together throughout the course of 40 minutes.

“Credit to Notre Dame. They came out, and they fought. When you play hard and play with a sense of toughness, you give yourself a chance. We did do that at times. You have to be consistent in your actions. You have to be consistent in what you do on the floor for 4o minutes. We’ve talked about that.”

Pitt fell woefully short in three important areas: defense, rebounding and ball security.

Notre Dame shot 56.3% (27 of 48) from the field, well above its season-long percentage (before the game) of 45.4%. The Irish’s total of 76 points represented their second-largest total in their past 10 ACC games.

Also, Pitt lost the fight off the boards 28-24 and committed eight of its 10 turnovers in the first half when it could have built a cushion it needed at the end.

Another dagger: Pitt had been leading the ACC in free-throw shooting at 78.9%, but the Panthers missed 7 of 18, with each miss occurring in the second half.

“It’s a game we prepared well for,” Jason Capel said. “The reality is you have to defend, you have to rebound, you have to take care of the ball. Those three things give you a chance to win every game.

“If you don’t do those things, especially on the road, when you have more turnovers than assists (10-9), get beat on the boards and allow a team to shoot nearly 60% from the floor for the game, you’re not putting yourself in position to win the basketball game.”

Most discouraging for the Panthers was the fact that Notre Dame played without its third- and fourth-leading scorers, Braeden Shrewsberry and Matt Allocco, who sat out with injuries. Shrewsberry, son of coach Micah Shrewsberry, is averaging 14 points and is the Irish’s most prolific 3-point shooter (72 of 195, 36.9%). Allocco, a transfer from Princeton, is averaging nine points while shooting 45.5% from beyond the arc (35 of 77).

The Irish received an unexpected lift from deep on their bench when freshman Cole Certa, who had played in only 11 previous games with no starts, scored every Notre Dame point — a total of 12 —in a span of less than four minutes midway through the second half. Certa finished with three 3-pointers after hitting two all season and scored a season-high 12 points.

On the other bench, Pitt used only two reserves: Cummings, who played 10 minutes, and Amsal Delalic (three). Cummings’ basket at the end of the game constituted the only points from a non-starter.

The loss to a struggling team is far from an outlier for the Panthers, who came into this season with high expectations. Pitt previously lost to Virginia (6-10 in the ACC) by 20 at home and has a 4-9 record since starting the season 12-2.

“Very disappointed,” Jason Capel said.

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