Jeff Capel does this thing.
If Pitt loses — which they did Tuesday night at Petersen Events Center, 73-68, in overtime against No. 11-ranked Louisville — Capel cannot focus on any individual play or player. He just can't, no matter how good or how bad that player's performance might've been.
Asked about Terrell Brown, who logged 27 minutes and tallied three points, three rebounds and four blocks while operating at his most inspired level of the season, Capel said the following during his post-game press conference:
"He did some good things. He blocked some shots. He can adjust shots in there. He did some nice things for us.”
Generic, right?
Asked how Au'Diese Toney held Jordan Nwora —Louisville's star junior who is a frontrunner to win ACC Player of the Year averaging 21 points per game on 51/44/79 shooting splits — to just 14 points in this game, Capel provided this:
"I think Au’Diese is a heck of a defender. But I think our team does a good job. Our antenna’s up."
Right back to the team. And heck, I even tossed Capel a highly specific question about Trey McGowens to try to see if he'd break character. Here's the scene:
That's Xavier Johnson misfiring on a three to open the gif. Justin Champagnie keeps the play alive by tipping the offensive rebound out, directly into the hands of McGowens.
Pause. Think about this one.
Pitt's up, 58-54, with 2:40 to go in the game at this point. Burning another 30 seconds and working to find that perfect look could prove vital here.
Nope. McGowens fires immediately. Re-watch Capel on the bench. It's glorious: Hands over his head, fighting through a state of utter disbelief and frustration ... and then the shot kisses off the glass and in.
It gets even better, though.
One last time, up to the gif. I trimmed the end and zoomed in for you, if only because I had a perfect look at this from the press box and noticed how real the moment was. The second that ball passes through the net, McGowens turns to Capel and puts a fist to his chest as if to say, "Yeah, I know, Coach. I know."
That scene — a player known for making questionable decisions down the stretch this year but at least recognizing it this time — is exactly why I took the question to Capel after the game:
“It is what it is. Sometimes you make a bad shot," Capel began. "And it is what it is. In games like this when both teams are struggling to score a little bit, you have to have players step up and make plays. And that’s one where we became very fortunate, where he banked in a shot and extended our lead a little bit."
Not exactly glowing praise, but not horrible, either. But wait! Here comes the thing:
"We can’t go down and give up a three the very next play — or a three-point play I think they got," Capel continued. "It was a three or a three-point play … In that position right there, that’s where you really have to hunker down and get a stop, and unfortunately, that didn’t happen for us.”
Look, I get why Capel does this, and it's not a flaw at all. He won't get caught up in mini-positives when the larger picture is gross. Who cares if that one particular shade of red pops off the page if the full image doesn't inspire, right? If anything, this should excite Pitt fans. For him, it's about the win. It's about the team. When that isn't achieved, any and all other narratives fall behind.
"We have to become consistent," Capel was saying. "That’s the thing we’re striving to become. We’re not there yet. We’re showing some signs, but in order to become really good, you have to be consistent. And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’ve shown it in spurts, but we have to do it consistently.”
Is he talking about Pitt's season or about this game in particular? Take your pick. And that's the point here. It holds up equally well either way. Capel focuses on winning because no singular positive can outweigh the sting of a loss. In this one, Pitt led from the jump, 2-0, with Champagnie opening the scoring. They led at the half, 31-28, and they led all the way up until 48 seconds remained in the game, when David Johnson tied it at 61 with a made free throw.
From there, the game went into overtime and Louisville won it behind some clutch shots and some sound defense, forcing three Pitt turnovers in the five-minute extra period. There was a questionable call in there, too (much more on that below).
And it wasn't that Capel wasn't pleased on some level with his squad's effort:
“First off, I’m proud of our guys. We put ourself in a position to win," he opened his presser.
But ...
"Unfortunately, we came up short," he finished.
Yep. All that effort and energy and toughness and togetherness mean little when the clock reads zeroes and you look up to see "Visitor 73, Pitt 68."
That's the thing.
Now, wanna talk about that "foul"? Thought so.
• Two facts in the wake of this defeat, ranked by importance:
- You cannot define this game by one play, good or bad.
- Holy crap, this call sucked:
This was a foul on #Pittsburgh where on what would’ve been a game-tying bucket for Terrell Brown? Terrible. pic.twitter.com/iMQXsracTx
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) January 15, 2020
That's Brown tipping in a missed McGowens layup — somehow — in overtime, locking the score at 70 ... only to have the referee tell him Santa isn't real.
Capel buried his face and flailed in disbelief. Brown, who also tallied his fifth foul of the game with that, did all he could do: He made that expression up there at the top of this article. Because, yeah, this one was baffling ... And we weren't about to get any answers after the game.
“Next question please," McGowens said when he was asked his thoughts on the sequence.
“I’m not commenting on any call, anything that an official made," Capel said. "I can’t. I don’t wanna lose money.”
I'm not going to lose money for talking about it though, so let's throw it out there: That's a horrible, potentially game-altering foul against Brown that should've never been called.
And to double down on it, I — along with several commenters and viewers — saw it coming all along:
I really wish I could see replays of these fouls. Seems like *several* soft calls have been made tonight, but it's also impossible to tell with one live look. #dkps #unleash
— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) January 15, 2020
The whistles were out early and often — 45 total fouls called at a near-even split with 23 on Louisville and 22 on Pitt. And while McGowens and Toney couldn't talk directly about the officiating, I posed the idea a different way: How does an active officiating crew like that disrupt what you're trying to do as a team?
“I would say just attack," McGowens offered, meaning he felt if the referees were going to call soft fouls all night, he might as well rack them up for himself and his team, which he did, going 6 for 8 from the line in all.
Now, watch Toney's body language. Understand that he chimed in even though he didn't need to. This one bothered him:
“Attack. Play through it," he added with a shake of the head.
The fouls bothered everyone in this one, no doubt. That one up there against Brown was the most egregious and the most impactful, but make no mistake: The referees were out of control throughout.
• In fairness to the officiating crew, there was one situation that seemed harsh but turned out to be fair upon further review. Earlier in the game, a student got tossed out of the Zoo for ... Well, nobody knew exactly why at the time. The referee blew the whistle, pointed in the stands and made the classic "You're outta here" gesture, and the fan was swiftly escorted away and out of the stadium.
So what happened?
A source close to the activity told me the student yelled, "What the f*** are you looking at?" four times to the referee after he disagreed with a call. Before the fifth exclamation, the referee locked eyes with him as if to say, "No more."
The student said it again.
With that one, he was gone.
Fair play to the ref there. I went to college. I know how rowdy sporting events can get. But when the referee asks you to stop, just cool it for a second so you can stick around to watch the game unfold.
• For a silver lining, I mean ... Pitt forced overtime against No. 11 Louisville. That feels lost in all this because it could've been so much better yet, but that was no small task, particularly after losing by 18, 64-46, to these Cardinals back in early December at the KFC Yum! Center.
“I think we’re getting better," Capel said.
Louisville's head coach Chris Mack certainly agreed with that take.
"Coming into tonight, we knew that we were going to get a much different Pitt team than we saw on Sunday night against Miami," he said. "I just know what Coach Capel’s about, what he’s really preached from Day 1, the toughness level that his kids play with. So we expected that. And I thought we took a lot of punches there in the first half."
Who am I to argue with them? This Pitt team is getting better. The sparks and the flashes are there. Now it's about figuring out how to keep the flame alive.
• Pitt led by seven, 61-54, with 3:11 to go in this one after that ill-advised three from McGowens up top. After that, Louisville went on a 7-0 run to tie the game and to force overtime.
“When you’re playing against really good teams and elite teams — and Louisville, I think, is an elite team — they make you pay for stuff like that [broken plays and missed defensive rebounds]," Capel said. "And that’s what talent, that’s what guys that are older and that’s what elite does: They make you pay when you make mistakes. And so that’s why you have to try to minimize as many mistakes.”
McGowens put it another way:
“Mental breakdowns on defense," he said when asked what changed during that stretch.
Call it what you want, one thing is certain: Pitt had the upset secured and they blew it.
• It doesn't help that McGowens and Johnson combined to go 1 for 5 from the field during the final four minutes, the lone make that prayer of a three from No. 2. That's after previously going 1 for 5 in crunch time during the conference-play opener against Wake Forest, too.
McGowens led all scorers with 24 points, but he did so on 36 percent shooting (8 for 22) and committed five turnovers, two more than Johnson, who had the second most on the team with three.
Ironically, Mack put it best when talking about Nwora after a lackluster effort by his standards:
"If he takes errant shots and he goes 5 for 23 because he's trying to get his average, then we're not as good of a team."
Woof. Yeah, that sentiment hits hard when you apply it to this Pitt team.
• And credit Louisville here, too. It's not like they were unaware of who Pitt would turn to when they needed a bucket most.
“Specifically when you defend Pitt, it’s been our opinion you have to try to keep McGowens and Xavier Johnson from getting in the lane," Mack said. "And it’s very, very difficult, because they’re always bringing their big guy up and trying to free ‘em and I thought our guys did a really good job down the stretch in forcing some really tough shots and then we got enough 50-50 balls to win the game.”
• Nwora is the star, but I left most impressed and surprised by the freshman Johnson, who scored 11 points while adding three rebounds and four assists. Besides skying for what would have been an absolutely crushing tomahawk slam, Johnson hit clutch baskets and showed some serious poise and athleticism throughout. After returning in late November from a shoulder injury that held him out four months, Johnson's slowly becoming the player Louisville envisioned.
"He's uber-talented," Mack offered. " ... I think David's ceiling is extremely high."
• Champagnie quietly put up his third double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a team-high 44 minutes played. He also sank two crucial free throws late, just one more example of his ice-cold mentality and approach seen throughout the year.
• This, just because I want you to see it:
Pretty.
• Pitt's now 0-2 this year against ranked opponents (both Louisville) and 6-20 all-time against the AP No. 11-ranked team.
• Louisville shot just 38 percent from the field but won anyway, a rarity against Capel's teams. When holding the opponent to 40 percent or less from the field, Capel is 17-5 at Pitt.
• That's two straight overtime games here vs. Louisville for the Panthers. Last year, though, Pitt prevailed, 89-86.
• McGowens has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games, doing so a team-high 14 times on the year.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE STARTING LINEUPS
For Capel's Panthers:
Xavier Johnson, guard
Trey McGowens, guard
Ryan Murphy, guard
Justin Champagnie, forward
Eric Hamilton, forward
And for Chris Mack's Cardinals:
Lamarr 'Fresh' Kimble, guard
Darius Perry, guard
Jordan Nwora, forward
Dwayne Sutton, forward
Steven Enoch, center
THE SCHEDULE
Pitt has to move on from these back-to-back defeats, and they'll get the chance Saturday at the Pete against the last team they defeated — North Carolina. That's a noon tipoff, and I'll be there for all the coverage.
THE COVERAGE
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