Just like Pitt's win over UNC Wilmington Tuesday, the Panthers rode tough defense on their way to a 63-59 victory over Towson Friday night at the Petersen Events Center.
The Panthers teetered back and forth with the Tigers throughout the game, but played the aggressive style of defense that Jeff Capel has preached will be necessary, especially this season. Towson was held to shooting 36.2 percent from the field, and just 31.4 percent in the second half when the Panthers' defense stepped up.
"Big win for us," Capel said after the game. "Our defense and energy from the 16-minute mark in the second half was outstanding."
What was truly tremendous for Pitt was how it won this game without its traditional top scorers leading the way. Through three games, Pitt had been led by sophomores John Hugley IV who averaged 19 points per game and Femi Odukale who averaged 14 points per game. Odukale suffered an ankle injury in the first half that sent him into the locker room, but he would return.
But in the second half, Capel benched both Odukale and Hugley at the 18-minute mark. Hugley wouldn't return as his night ended with just seven points and five rebounds along with two turnovers.
"He didn't play well," Capel said when asked about benching Hugley. "Team’s not about one guy. It’s about everyone. So, if one guy’s doesn’t play, it probably means that somebody else is playing pretty well."
Capel gave the same reasoning behind benching Odukale.
"He wasn’t playing well," Capel said of benching Odukale. "He was not playing well. Body language wasn’t good. It’s not our standard and we are no deviating from that no matter who it is."
But Capel did acknowledge that when he brought Odukale back in late in the second half to help finish the game. Still, sitting the team's two leading scorers on a roster that has already proven to be very limited was a bold move. It required an increased presence both in rebounds and in scoring from other players on the court.
Leading that charge was the 6-foot-7 true freshman Nate Santos, whose 14 points and eight rebounds led Pitt in both categories. He shot 4 of 8 from three-pointers on the night along with two steals to be a huge spark for the Panthers.
"Nate Santos was outstanding," Capel said. "He's going to be huge. His progression has had to be sped up because of the situations that he’s been in and he’s done a really good job. We know that he can shoot the basketball and I think he's gotten better each game defensively. Obviously, to have eight rebounds, to step to the line in his fourth game, his first free throws down the stretch, and make two big free throws. We have a lot of confidence in Nate and I think he’s going to continue to get better. He comes to work and tries to get better each day.”
Santos has become a starter for Pitt early as the team's needed shooters after the injury to Nike Sibande and the suspension of Ithiel Horton. The four three-pointers on the night was the most he'd made all season, but it wasn't a surprise to his teammates.
"We know Nate's a great shooter for us," William Jeffress said. "A lot of the game is about confidence. Once you see that first one go in, the basket opens up. We've seen him do that in practice a lot and we know he can shoot the ball. That's why we trust him to do that and he saw what happens when he trusts himself."
Santos' shooting brought Pitt's field goal rate up to 44.7 percent on the night. But he wasn't alone in Pitt's emerging scoring threats. Transfers Jamarius Burton and Dan Oladaopo each scored eleven points on the night in different ways. Burton by driving and looking for mid-range jumpers to shoot 4 of 12 on the night to go along with four assists, and Oladapo playing more physical with four rebounds and hitting 4 of 4 as all his shots came from the paint.
But it was the presence from each senior transfer was steadying to Pitt's young team, as it has been throughout training camp and in-season practices.
"JB's always been a vocal leader for us," William Jeffress said of Burton's contributions. "Whether that's in the locker room or when he went down, he was always in the gym with us, watching film with us and giving us tips even when he couldn't play. When he comes onto the court he communicates with us, controls the pace, and brings aggressiveness on offense. But he also facilitates and brings a lot to the table."
Burton and Oladapo got help from other sophomores of Pitt's 2020 recruiting class in Jeffress and Noah Collier. Both finished with seven points, while Jeffress showed up strong on the boards with six rebounds and Collier became a better defensive presence for the Panthers with a steal and a block. Collier played 20:34 in the game, the most he's played since he joined Pitt last season.
"Coach tells me to be aggressive and bring a lot of energy to the game," Collier said. "Every time I step to the court that's what I want to do, it worked out today. That translated to defense and offense for me."
"Noah Collier was tremendous," Capel said. "He was ready for the moment. He played above the rim and he played with energy and force. He did a really good job."
Collier's 6-foot-8, 220 lbs. frame doesn't lend itself to being a big bully type of forward like Hugley, so he has to rely on out-positioning opponents and being quicker to different spots on the court to win in the paint.
"If you're not stronger than somebody you have to be faster than them," Collier said. "That's my mindset every time I go against somebody larger because I know I'll be faster and more athletic. I make sure to use that to my advantage. We come into practice talking about energy and passion. Defense has been one of our staples and we try our best to get stops and keep going."
The change of pace was a welcomed one for Capel that allowed him to trust his bench to find the rhythm he saw lacking on the court when Hugley was in the game.
“He should be like the curveball to the fastball," Capel said of Collier. "John is power, he’s force, and he’s strong. Noah should be the opposite. Noah should be speed, it should be energy, it should be above the rim. It should be all of those things. And he did that at such a high level…We need him, but we need him that way all the time. I’m happy for him and proud of him...In that moment he was ready and he came out and played at a really high level.”
Collier credited Oladapo with helping him find his groove after a lot of hard practices guarding the senior.
"Dan was one of the best offensive rebounders in the country last year," Collier said of Oladapo. "Being around him every day to watch how he analyzes the game is a giant help. That skill didn't go away when he got here. Every day you go to work and you know you have to box him out and watch out for Dan. You have to bring the same energy he gives and put it right back to him. That's definitely helped us bring up our level of competition."
But even with all those efforts, Pitt was still tied with Towson at 48 with 5:02 to go when Capel sent Odukale back in the game. Within a minute, Odukale fed an assist to Collier for a layup foul with the and-one to tie the game again at 51 But it was at the 2:43 mark when the game was tied at 55 when Odukale made his biggest play of the night by hitting a three-pointer that ignited Pitt's bench and the sparse crowd at the Petersen Events Center.
"That was a big moment for us," Jeffress said of Odukale's three-pointer. "That really uplifted our spirits. It really got our run going and our heads were up higher than they already were. When we were on the court, we felt the energy from our bench and the crowd after that. We know he didn't play much in the beginning, but any time you step on the court you have to be ready and he was that."
The shot gave Pitt a lead it wouldn't relinquish. But the win gave Capel the kind latitude with coaching his team to show they can win even if he benches players who had been the team's top performers. Benching Hugley and Odukale in a loss would've came across as a costly move that backfired, but his players backed him up with an inspiring performance.
While Towson isn't the caliber of opponent Pitt will face in the ACC, any opponent should be considered a challenge for a young Pitt team that's trying to figure out its identity and dealt with plenty of adversity to start the season. All wins are big wins at this point, and any sign of progress should be celebrated as steps in the right direction to Capel making the Panthers a competitive team after losing the Panthers' three top scorers to the NBA and Transfer Portal.
"I see us playing together with more passion and more heart," Jeffress said. "Together, every day we're coming together after practice. We know a lot of people count us out right now so we're trying to prove everybody wrong. But we're not really just trying to prove everybody else wrong, we want to prove ourselves right. No matter what you say or what you do, you know you have enough to win in our locker room. We trust our players, our coaches, and every day we're going to go out there and fight."
