upon SaturdayPitt men's basketball won the game it needed to win to keep its hopes of earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament alive.
The Panthers kept their hopes high thanks in large part to three points. It's the 3-point defense, the response to early foul trouble by freshman guard Carlton “Bub” Carrington, and the effort after last Tuesday's disastrous loss.
The Panthers handled the pressure well.
Against Virginia Tech, Pitt had to respond to several different challenges.
Last Tuesday night, the Panthers suffered their biggest loss of the season against Wake Forest. Pitt fans were intrigued to see how the Panthers would respond to this adversity in their next game against Virginia Tech.
On Thursday, head coach Jeff Capel knew the Panthers weren't going to concede a 33-point loss.
“When I went back to practice on Thursday, I knew I was ready,” Capel said. “We felt like we learned our lesson.”
Freshman guard Jaland Rowe didn't think much of the loss to the Demon Deacons. Instead, he focused on returning to playing Pitt basketball. Year 1 felt like the Panthers did that against the Hokies.
“[We] We have to move on and get back to playing our game,” Lowe said. “And I think we did a great job of that tonight.”
Pitt also had to deal with and accommodate different rotations throughout the first half.
Carrington committed his second personal foul 3:19 into the game and was benched for all but 1:55 of the next 16:41.
This meant junior forward Zach Austin would have to play an average of more than 23.4 minutes per game.
Austin wasn't afraid of the challenge. He finished the night with 9 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks. However, his clutch performance wasn't much of a consideration in the High Point transfer.
“We’re just playing defense and attacking each other,” Austin said. “There was nothing particularly special about it.”
Austin did everything the Panthers needed to do to stay in the game in the first half. The junior forward tied the game with 36 points, and Pitt's unusual lineup prevented Virginia Tech from running on its own.
But once the second half began, a well-rested and energetic Carrington was the difference for the Panthers. He finished with a game-high 20 plus-minus and had a clean 5-0 run of his own in the win over the Hokies.
Lowe knows what Carrington brings to the Panthers.
“Big flash,” Lowe said of Carrington's performance. “Bub is a great ball handler, a great scorer, a great facilitator. We knew in the second half that if he played more, it would be less stressful for the other guys.”
The Panthers' mixed reactions on Saturday showed Capel that they have been learning and growing since early in the season.
“We’ve grown a lot,” Capel said. “We had a pretty bad loss at the beginning of the year…so this team is learning. We're growing. We're getting better and better. We learn from every situation.”
3 out of 20
Virginia Tech entered its matchup with Pitt on Saturday night shooting 36 percent from 3-point range. However, the Panthers held the Hokies to their worst shooting percentage from deep in all of conference play, holding Virginia Tech to 15% shooting from beyond the arc.
Capel was particularly pleased with the Panthers' 3-point defense, which allowed just three points in 40 minutes.
“I was really happy with our defensive effort throughout the game,” Capel said. “Especially protecting the three of us.”
For Lowe, the plan to stop the Hokies from deep was simple. He forces Virginia Tech from the 3-point line and forces them to take tough shots inside the arc.
“[We] I just tried to force them off the line,” Lowe said. “Let’s give them some tough twos, let them take a lot of downhill runs and send them to our big teams.”
The Panthers' three-man defensive strategy has worked well all season.
Pitt's defense ranks 19th in the nation. 3 point field goal defenseopponents can only succeed on 29.8% of their attempts.
Pitt's three-point defense was especially impressive against Virginia Tech graduate guard Hunter Kattore, who shot 1-4 from deep against the Panthers. Kattoa holds his 42% 3-point percentage, which is his fourth best in the ACC.
Guillermo Diaz Graham has potential
Sophomore center Guillermo Diaz-Graham is a difference-maker. The center is currently shooting 40.7 percent from deep this season and 66.6 percent from deep over his last four games.
Diaz-Graham's ability to stretch the floor is a game-planning headache for opponents and is an asset Capel hopes to use throughout the remainder of the season.
what's next
Pitt is playing a virtual postseason basketball game Tuesday night at Clemson. If the Panthers win, they will be in ideal position to receive a high bid. If the Panthers lose, it will take a miracle or an ACC Championship to punch their ticket to March Madness.
Pitt fans can watch the Panthers play Clemson on ACCN on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
