I hear the term "breaking down the defense" many times when referring to a good point guard and how he can "break down" an opposing defense. I think the Pitt game illustrates two things, 1) how Pitt's guards broke down our defense and 2) how we didn't break down their defense.
Regarding Pitt, they seemed to exploit our double teams every time by making the extra pass. Fields could also spot the mismatches. For example, I remember at the start of Pitt's big second half run, Fields spotted Blair being guarded by Mo. It took a split second for Blair to get the ball from Fields and another split second for him to throw it down. Again and again, Pitt was able to break down our defense by making the extra pass or Fields spotting the opportunity.
Regarding MU, I am sad to say, DJ was very good at doing this, but Mo doesn't seem to have the same court vision. Very often our offense consisted of Jerel or Wes trying to drive to the rim while 2 or 3 Pitt players ganged up on one or the other. With 2 or 3 opposing players ganging up on you there must be an open player somewhere? MO had 2 assists, Fields comparatively had 10.
I think the game would've been closer with DJ but I am not sure it would have been enough to win it. The question is how does a team overcome this? Is it too late to start practicing and remaking the offense with a new point guard this late in the year?