Jeff Capel was pleased with Pitt’s 74-65 victory Saturday against Miami, but he also recognizes the reality of his team’s situation.
He was happy to see the four-game losing streak end in front of a Petersen Events Center crowd of 8,578. But he also told reporters after the game, “We still have a long ways to go. We have a lot of season left. We have to continue to fight.”
The Quad 4 victory against the Hurricanes (6-19, 2-12) does little to help Pitt’s NCAA Tournament hopes, but a loss would have ended them.
Pitt’s coach was encouraged that the Panthers (15-10, 6-8 ACC) didn’t allow the darkness that has shrouded his team for the past month to bleed into their effort.
Ishmael Leggett compiled an impressive stat line of 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals at a crucial time with guards Jaland Lowe (concussion) and Damian Dunn (elbow) out of action. Likewise, Cam Corhen’s work around the basket (17 points, eight rebounds) was crucial to the victory.
The Panthers also played a clean game, albeit against the last-place team in the ACC.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Capel said. “I thought we’d play hard, but I’d be lying to you if I said I knew we would have 15 assists and only nine turnovers.”
And who wouldn’t like the way Zack Austin locked onto Miami’s best player, Matthew Cleveland, who was averaging 26 points per game over the past five? Cleveland missed 12 of 16 shots and ended up with only eight points.
“I don’t think Zack’s stat sheet reflects anywhere close to how well he played,” Capel said. “That’s hard (to say) because he had a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds). His defense on Cleveland was huge for us.”
But one of the most important stories of the game — and perhaps the season if Pitt can take momentum from the victory and start stacking victories — was the way Brandin Cummings and Amsal Delalic shook off their freshman shackles and made meaningful contributions.
Cummings, who was averaging fewer than 14 minutes per game, played more than 33, assuming much of Lowe’s ball-handling chores. He scored 11 points with four assists. Delalic, who played in only six previous ACC games, contributed 14 points, with a steal, assist and two rebounds. Their efforts will allow Capel to sleep peacefully.
“We have a lot of guys on this team that could have put their heads down because they haven’t been playing as much and could have pouted and could have complained,” Capel said. “If they are complaining, they aren’t complaining to me or around us. When they’ve shown up, they’ve had great attitudes and they‘ve worked. Brandin is an example of that. Amsal is an example of that.”
Capel also wasn’t especially concerned when Cummings received a technical foul — the coach said he deserved it — after he shoved Miami’s Divine Ugochukwu with 24 seconds left in a game that was all but decided.
”I don’t want to take the competitiveness away from him, but we have to be smarter in that situation,” said Capel, who spent several one-on-one seconds on the floor talking to Cummings about the incident. “I look at it as a teaching moment. I thought he played really, really well.
“I love everything he did. He’s a tough, competitive dude. I thought he made some really good decisions. He stepped up. He wasn’t afraid.”
Capel and Leggett said the victory had roots in practice Thursday, a day after the team returned from Dallas and an 83-63 loss to SMU.
”Loved the spirit that we had on Thursday, the connectivity and the attention to detail,” the coach said.
Leggett said the team concentrated on what was needed with Lowe and Dunn unavailable.
“We repped it out in practice a lot,” he said. “We got a good feel for who’s going to be where.”
Lowe and Dunn were averaging a total of more than 26 points per game, but what really set this game apart from most of the previous 10 was defense. Pitt led only 32-30 at halftime, but the Panthers held Miami to 34.4% shooting in the second half — the first time in five games an opponent shot worse than 40% in any half.
“More urgency on defense. We played on fire, our backs were against the wall,” Leggett said.
Words from Leggett before the game helped.
“I told the guys whatever it takes is what we have to do,” he said. “Do it for yourself, but most importantly do it for your brothers who are down.”
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“I’m happy for these guys to have something positive happen,” Capel said, “but the most important thing is we made something positive happen.”
The next hurdle is getting Lowe back in the lineup. He’ll likely get re-evaluated Sunday, but he has not had any contact work since he banged heads with SMU’s Boopie Miller on Tuesday. The good news is that Capel said Lowe is not having headaches that concussion patients normally experience in the midst of bright lights and noise.
“I would think that there’s a really good chance that he would play on Tuesday,” he said, “but I’m not exactly sure yet.”