AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- As is the case any time a Pittsburgh team loses a game of consequence, and Pitt's loss to Bradley in the NCAA tournament certainly qualifies as such a contest, the defeat is invariably followed by an avalanche of analysis.

The pundits will have their say on this game, as will the talk-show experts and their callers. But, in truth, no analysis is necessary. This one is simple:

Bradley beat Pitt, 72-66, yesterday at the Palace of Auburn Hills because -- duh! -- they were the better team.

No one should consider this second-round victory a fluke. It wasn't. Bradley didn't have one player Pitt couldn't guard. It didn't have two players Pitt couldn't guard. It had three players Pitt couldn't guard.

Not only did Bradley's Patrick O'Bryant lopsidedly win the duel of 7-foot-centers against Aaron Gray by scoring 28 points, but Marcellus Sommerville, who scored 18, and reserve forward Lawrence Wright, who scored 14, pretty much had their way with the Panthers.

Pitt's abundance of small guards, which had served them so well in the recent games, was their undoing. The Panthers had no one to matchup with Sommerville, 6 feet 7, 225 pounds, who could hit the 3, drive to the basket or muscle underneath depending on which way he could best exploit his defender. Nor did they have anyone who could readily stop the quick 6-4 Wright, who led all rebounders with nine.

The matchup of O'Bryant and Gray proved to be decisive, although not necessarily because O'Bryant scored 16 more points than Gray.

After first-half runs by both teams had pretty much neutralized each other, the contest was evolving into a rare sight in the college game -- dueling 7 footers.

When Gray scored to give Pitt its largest lead, 33-30, O'Bryant countered 90 seconds later to put the Braves back ahead. Gray responded to that with a dunk to give Pitt the lead.

The next time O'Bryant got the ball he turned it over. The next time Gray, who scored 12 points in 22 minutes, got the ball he, too, was called for a turnover -- a five-second violation. This one proved to be significantly more costly.

In anger at himself and not the official, Gray slammed the ball to the floor and was called for a technical foul.

Sommerville converted both free throws off the technical, but the Braves gained much more from this play than those two points.

"It showed that we were starting to frustrate them," O'Bryant said. "We knew we could get to them."

Coach Jim Les saw it this way: "If we see a level of frustration with the other team, we're going to turn it up another notch with our pressure. I think they took that for the cue that now it's time to step it up another notch."

Did they ever!

Counting the two free throws, Bradley went on a 9-0 spurt in the next three minutes and a 19-4 run over the next eight minutes. The game was over.

"I was frustrated," said a clearly distraught Gray. "I never really got into the flow of the game. I struggled offensively and defensively. I didn't intend to do it. It was nothing against the officiating or anyone else. It was a good call.

"I wasn't even thinking about the five-second call. It was bad decision-making on my part."

Levon Kendall felt for his teammate.

"He's a competitive guy and it's tough when you're trying to work and things aren't necessarily going your way and you get a couple of tough breaks. That's the natural reaction. It's tough to control yourself at that stage of the game."

Typically, Pitt played hard until the end, but the 14-point lead Bradley had built was too much to overcome. Pitt was able to erase one such deficit, when the Braves leaped to a 16-4 lead to start the game, but couldn't do it a second time.

Hard to believe Bradley lost 10 times while playing most of its games in the Missouri Valley Conference, a supposed mid-major league, and Pitt lost, until yesterday, seven times while playing most of its games in the Big East Conference, which is considered the best league in the country.

As so often has been the case in big NCAA tournament games, Pitt didn't have the offensive answer for Bradley. Coach Jamie Dixon's emphasis on defense and rebounding holds the team in good stead in the Big East. But out of the league, the Panthers become the lesser team.

In 2002, Pitt lost to Kent State of the Mid-American Conference; in '03 to Marquette, then in Conference USA; in '05 to Pacific of the Big West Conference; and this year to Bradley of the Missouri Valley Conference. That's not supposed to happen to Big East teams.

But when you gear up to win on defense and rebounding sometimes it's hard to have offensive answers to talented teams. The Dixon-Ben Howland approach has taken the Panthers further than anyone might have expected at the start of their run. But they're stuck as an early-round loser in the most important event of the season.

Maybe it's time to tweak the formula. Maybe it's time for Pitt to have an offensive answer of its own.