GREENVILLE, S.C. — Pitt has made a habit of falling way behind its opponents in the first half recently.

The Panthers did it again Wednesday night against Clemson, and this time they didn’t have nearly enough offense or time to recover.

The Tigers built a 14-point halftime lead and never trailed in the second half and cruised to a 73-60 win before a crowd of 8,752 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

It was the third game in a row the Panthers (16-4, 5-3 ACC) trailed by double digits at the half, and they are 1-2 in those games.

Mike Young, who led the Panthers with 25 points and seven rebounds, said that the slow starts make it difficult to win games, and it is something that needs to be addressed immediately.

“We have been coming out and starting the game like we know we are going to win, as opposed to in the second half where we play like we want to win,” Young said.

“I told the guys the way we play the second half is how we have to play in the first half.

“It seems like we come out and are slow and methodical while other teams are getting after it, so we have to come out and get stops early, get three stops in a row which is what we call a kill, to get our defense going.

“Right now, we are starting the games trying to let our offense dictate how the game is going to go.”

Coach Jamie Dixon downplayed the idea that the Panthers weren’t ready to play against the Tigers, but he said they didn’t play well and not just in the first half.

He said the Tigers, who outrebounded the Panthers, 37-32, and had nine steals, were more aggressive, played better and deserved to win because his team didn’t defend well enough.

“They outplayed us, the rebounds, the steals, they had more possessions than us, and I thought they played well,” Dixon said.

“We got what we deserved, we have to do some things differently and we will as we get ready for [Virginia Tech] Sunday.

“We had leads early in these games so in terms of us not being ready to play, well that blows that theory, but they have made runs in the second part of the first half. But simply put, we are not defending well enough, that’s what it is.”

Pitt trailed by 10 points at the half against Florida State Saturday but the Panthers made a furious rally to beat the host Seminoles, 74-72.

But Clemson (13-7, 6-2) isn’t Florida State, and the Tigers played a controlled offensive game, were excellent on defense and they didn’t help the Panthers out like the Seminoles did by throwing the ball all over the court and missing shots.

“I thought we had good looks early, we just didn’t knock them down,” Dixon said. “But we have to be able to do other things, we have to get it done on the defensive end. When guys who usually play well don’t make shots, it is going to be problematic.”

Jaron Blossomgame’s ability to score from almost anywhere forced bad matchups for the Panthers defenders and left them vulnerable to other shotmakers.

Guard Avry Holmes said that when Blossomgame — who has scored 20 or more points in three consecutive games — is scoring, the rest of the team feeds off his energy. That gets the offense rolling. Holmes added that Blossomgame’s aggressiveness on offense and his ability to knock down shots makes the rest of the Tigers tough to defend, especially when they are making their shots.

“When he gets it going, he is a heckuva player, and we all get going,” said Holmes, who scored 13 points.

“And, of course [they feed off Blossomgame’s scoring]. Really, it is the game of basketball, teams will make runs, and they are a good team so we knew they were going to make some runs.

“But we just stayed locked into our team’s game and just play basketball.”

Jamel Artis made a layup to put the Panthers ahead, 10-7, with 13:53 left in the first half, but Pitt’s offense stalled and the Tigers used their transition game to take control with a 12-2 run,

They led, 19-12, with 9:23 to play after Holmes finished a fastbreak with a 3-pointer.

Ryan Luther, who scored eight points, broke the Tigers run with a short baseline jumper and then, after a 3-pointer by Blossomgame, he pulled the Panthers to within 22-17 with a 3-pointer from the wing.

But that was as close as the Panthers got the rest of the way.

Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1720 and Twitter @paulzeise,

First Published: January 28, 2016, 2:39 a.m.
Updated: January 28, 2016, 4:19 a.m.