Pitt got hot late in the season and looked to continue carrying momentum throughout the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C.
Though the No. 15 Panthers notched a thrilling first-round upset of No. 10 Stanford on Tuesday, their run came to an end Wednesday against seventh-seeded N.C. State.
In a high-scoring shootout, Pitt led early and hung around after going down in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to top the Wolfpack, who won 98-88 at Spectrum Center.
Wednesday’s defeat signaled the end of the campaign for Pitt (13-20), whereas N.C. State (20-12) plays No. 2 Virginia in the quarterfinals Thursday with its NCAA Tournament hopes still alive.
“I’m really proud of our team for how we fought,” coach Jeff Capel said to reporters in Charlotte postgame. “We put ourselves in a position to win. We got off to a good start. We were in a lot of foul trouble in the first half. But, man, our guys continued to battle. In the second half when they went up 15, just like we’ve done most of the year, we responded, and we had our chances.”
As the offseason arrives, major questions linger regarding Capel’s future at Pitt.
Over eight seasons, Capel is 127-127 (60-92 ACC) with one NCAA Tournament appearance and five losing seasons. He is under contract through the 2029-30 campaign.
“I’m not going to make any excuses,” Capel said. “We didn’t play to the standard which we feel like we’ve tried to create in this program. We just didn’t get the job done. I didn’t get the job done. … I haven’t talked to (athletic director) Allen (Greene). I’ve gotten no assurances from anyone, nor do I expect any assurances from anyone.”
A combined 101 points were scored in the first half, with Pitt trailing 51-50 at the break. However, it wasn’t long into the second half before N.C. State took control.
Pitt shot 57.1% from the field, compared to 60.8% by N.C. State. The Panthers hit 44.4% of their 3-point attempts, with the Wolfpack faring even better from deep at 56.5%.
Free-throw success was an integral element of N.C. State’s win as the Wolfpack got to the line 27 times, making 23 of their shots (85.2%). Pitt went 20 of 25 (80%) at the free-throw line.
Cam Corhen, in his final collegiate game, scored a career-high 27, and Nojus Indrusaitis and Omari Witherspoon added 19 apiece, both career highs. Barry Dunning Jr. scored 11 in the loss.
“Pittsburgh played extremely hard,” Wolfpack coach Will Wade said. “They’re down a bunch of guys. What Coach Capel has done with those guys to get them to play like this and hang in there is incredibly impressive. Hats off to them. They played really, really well.”
Quadir Copeland led N.C. State with 24 points.
Pitt got out to an early lead, riding 3-pointers by Dunning and Minor to go up 8-2, with Wade calling timeout less than three minutes into the game.
The 3-pointers continued to fall for Pitt to start, as Witherspoon hit one and Dunning connected again to make it 14-7 with 15:04 to go before halftime.
The Wolfpack trimmed their deficit to one with around 13 minutes remaining in the half as a 3-pointer by Paul McNeil and layup by Ven-Allen Lubin made it 16-15 Panthers.
At the 10:31 mark, Witherspoon drained Pitt’s sixth 3-pointer of the afternoon, handing Pitt a 24-18 lead.
By game’s end, Pitt would hit 12 3-pointers, the most this season versus an ACC foe.
“I think we were just feeling good today,” Witherspoon said. “Once you see a couple of your teammates hit some, it just inspires everybody, gives everybody else an extra boost of confidence.”
A layup by Corhen and two Witherspoon free throws then made it 28-21 Panthers with 9:05 to play before the break.
Less than two minutes later, Indrusaitis added two more 3-pointers for the Panthers, putting them up 34-25 leading into the under-8 media timeout.
Over the next few minutes, the Wolfpack inched to within striking distance, exclusively utilizing the free-throw line to make it a 34-32 game at the 5:52 mark.
About 30 seconds later, N.C. State had its first lead since the opening basket of the game as Matt Able’s 3-pointer made it 35-34. Capel called timeout with the Wolfpack on a 10-0 run.
The Panthers and Wolfpack went blow for blow for the remainder of the first half, with Pitt behind 51-50 at the break.
Both teams shot lights-out over the first 20 minutes as Pitt hit 60.7% of its shots and N.C. State drained 60.9%.
The Panthers fell behind 56-50 just under 90 seconds after play resumed.
By the 17:37 mark, Pitt was in major trouble as a Darrion Williams 3-pointer and emphatic fastbreak dunk by Copeland made it 61-51 Wolfpack.
At the under-16 media timeout, N.C. State maintained a 66-56 advantage.
Pitt had trouble keeping pace from there as turnovers spoiled critical possessions, and the Wolfpack couldn’t miss.
With 13:30 to play, Capel again called timeout, with N.C. State having taken a 73-58 lead.
Two minutes later, Pitt’s deficit was 11.
The Panthers got as close as six heading into the final under-8 media timeout, but N.C. State always had a bucket to stay comfortably in front.
At the under-4 media timeout, the Panthers were behind 88-81, but N.C. State’s lead jumped back up to 11 with about two minutes to play, closing things out from there.
“We just weren’t able to stop them,” Capel said. “Really, no one was able to stop each other. They just made a few more free throws, a few more baskets than we did.”