Pitt's blowout loss defines momentous night for Krzyzewski

Pitt was trounced 86-56 by No. 4 ranked Duke Tuesday night in the Panthers' final home game at the Petersen Events Center this season. But the display of dominance from the ACC's top team against one of the worst ACC teams was overshadowed by the game being the final road ACC contest for Mike Krzyzewski in his final season. That was boosted by Krzyzewski coaching against Jeff Capel, a former assistant coach and player under Krzyzewski.

Pitt's Athletic Department presented Krzyzewski with an award before tipoff:

After the presentation, it wasn't much of a game.

The Blue Devils set a tone early with a 16-3 run in the first 3:33 of the game and never looked back. Duke held a double-digit lead for 34:33 of the 40 minutes of play while shooting 59 percent from the field and 50 percent on three-pointers.

Duke's freshmen stars proved too much to handle for Pitt as guard Trevor Keels led the team with 27 points shooting 5 of 8 on 3-pointers and forward Paolo Banchero was right behind him with 21 points and shooting 3 of 3 on 3-pointers. 

"They're an outstanding team," Capel said of Duke. "Very talented. They have a really good mix of older guys, what's considered old in college basketball today, and some really, really talented freshmen. When they shoot the ball like this, they're going to be hard to beat today. Today's game and their last game, they've made a total of 26 threes and they've done it in a very efficient manner."

The Panthers did recover momentarily from the early onslaught Duke brought. The opening run the Panthers allowed came as a result of giving up open looks to a team that averages over 80 points per game and shoots 48.9 percent on the season. Those open looks came less frequently, but Duke's scorers still made shot after shot even when the Panthers contested jumpers and layups.

"Our guys were really, really excited," Capel said. "And I thought that led early to us doing some things that weren't in character with what we've worked on the past few days and even earlier . . . You sometimes can’t be too excited or to juiced up. I thought as we got into the game, especially the second half offensively, we were better but we never were able to get a grasp on the game defensively. And a big credit to them because they made like every shot."

John Hugley IV led the Panthers with 19 points and six rebounds, most of that coming in the second half. Early on, Hugley looked timid to attack Duke's defense. Capel indicated that at halftime, Hugley didn't realize he wasn't being consistently double-teamed as he was against most ACC opponents. 

“Yeah, it was interesting because early in the game," Capel said of Hugley. "I felt like that he wasn't aggressive. It was almost like he was anticipating the double. And one of the things we told him at halftime is they're not doubling, just go right through them. Don't hesitate. And I thought he did a much better job of that in the second half of being aggressive and not waiting, just making quick moves and I was really pleased with that.”

After Capel and the coaching staff told him that, Hugley became more aggressive and was the lone bright spot for the Panthers.

“I’m just going to play the way I have been the whole season," Hugley said. "Just attacking the play. Playing like I have played all season, nothing different. Just knocking down my shots. Playing how coach wanted us to play.”

The loss dropped Pitt to 11-19 on the season, 6-13 in the ACC, only ranking above Georgia Tech and N.C. State in the conference. Meanwhile, the win for Duke improved the team's record to 26-4, and 16-3 in the ACC, clinching the Blue Devils' first regular season ACC title since 2010 when they shared it with Maryland. It's the first time since 2006 that Duke will have won the ACC regular season title outright.

While the game wasn't much of a contest, the display of friendship and respect between Krzyzewski and Capel was something to witness. 

“I just want to thank Jeff and the Pitt Athletic Department for the great honor before the game," Krzyzewski said. "I actually was able to spend about 15 minutes before the game with Dick [Groat]. He and I had been great friends, he's one of the great athletes in the history of our country and at Duke. He has his jersey retired and was maybe one of the top two players in the country in basketball when he was at Duke. Then, he went over and started playing shortstop and hitting that ball, did pretty well in that. But to see him and have that honor and then Sam [Clancy] was on our 1979 Pan-American Games team, and we've been good friends. And obviously Jeff's a part of our family. So, to be honored in that way we really appreciate it, my family appreciates it.”

The award Pitt gave to Krzyzewski was a small statue made of steel from the Pittsburgh area made to show five fingers forming a fist, a metaphor Krzyzewski has used for years about how basketball teams, and people, need to come together.

“Yeah, well the fist is something we have used since I was the coach at Army," Krzyzewski said, explaining the metaphor. "And it's really five guys playing as one. I've used it with my West Point teams, with my Duke teams and with my USA teams, and it just makes sense. The five fingers are communication, trust, collective responsibility, care, and pride and my guys believe in that. It's a heavy thing so it won't be moved around a lot. Jeff got really emotional and so did I when he gave it to me because it really is the start of and the basis of our relationship since he was a teenager. That's been a part of how we've grown together."

Capel's history with Krzyzewski stems back to when he was recruited to Duke by Krzyzewski in 1992 and first played for the Blue Devils in 1993. After a brief professional career and 12 years of coaching between Old Dominion, VCU and Oklahoma, Capel found himself back at Duke as an assistant under Krzyzewski for eight seasons between 2011-2018 before taking the head coaching spot at Pitt.

"One of the reasons I chose Duke is that he reminded me of my dad," Capel said. "I grew up a (North) Carolina fan and I would tell my parents every day when I was little that I'm going to Carolina to play for coach (Dean) Smith and Carolina was the first school to offer me. But I went up (to Duke) for an unofficial visit and spent an hour with coach and it was during that conversation that I knew that's the guy I want to play for because he reminded me of my dad."

Both Capel's father, Jeff Capel II, who coached in the NBA and college basketball, and Krzyzewski shared a military background that led to similar philosophies in life and coaching.

"That's the way coach was," Capel continued. "He didn't promise anything except for a fair opportunity and he was going to coach you hard and teach you all these things. That relationship meant a lot. Look, if you had told me when I was 17 that my coach would be my friend when I'm coaching in my 40s, I would have thought you were out of your mind. It was rocky at times, being his point guard is difficult and he said things I didn't want to hear at times, but it was necessary. He's been there with me through everything, so the relationship means the world to me."

Krzyzewski also shared about how close he's been, not only to Capel as a player and a coach, but to Capel's family.

“Yeah, he’s from the 1990’s, where you got on guys differently than you do now," Krzyzewski recalled of Capel. "And, you have to keep adapting to how you motivate and how you get messages across. But Jeff comes from a very proud family. His grandfather really is one of the great men in the history of our state and his father and I are really close friends, and during the time that he was battling ALS and eventually lost that battle we’ve grown even closer together. That was a very, very difficult time for Jeff and his family and it's a horrible, horrible, horrible disease. And Jeff comes from an amazing family.”

The significance of the night for Krzyzewski, Capel, the ACC and college basketball was not lost on Pitt's players.

“I mean we certainly feel it for sure," Mouhammadou Gueye said after the game. "That there were people here before we even came out to stretch was different. But even in a situation before playing in Madison Square Garden, obviously, playing here for a lot of fans, it's a little bit different because it's our fans. I mean, we've been in the situation before, it definitely helps get the team juiced up and we understand that this game is a little bit more important, but at the end of the day, it's just another game to kind of look at it.”

Pitt's regular-season finale is Saturday against Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m.