If Wednesday's final preseason tuneup against Division II Edinboro offered any indicators, it was that Pitt men's basketball won't be afraid to fly down the court and let it fly.
Blake Hinson certainly was not.
The junior amassed 29 points on 10 of 14 shooting, including a 28-point first half, in guiding Pitt to a 92-53 victory over the Fighting Scots in the second of two exhibition games inside the Petersen Events Center.
Hinson led the charge for Pitt's stellar night from deep in the first half, sinking 5 of 8 and including by making three within a run of six consecutive conversions on triples from the Panthers. Hinson scored on eight of the Panthers' 12 converted field goals in the final 11 minutes of the first half.
"They found me, and I hit the wide open shots," Hinson said, succinctly.
Pitt played a higher-tempo offense, which might be a work-in-progress at this stage of the season, but is already showing signs of improvement from last season.
Compared to Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant by teammate Nike Sibande, Hinson was everywhere for Pitt and was instrumental in jump-starting the offense. He added three assists and corralled seven rebounds while finishing plus-31. He was adept at driving to the basket, as well, as his seven free throw attempts led the team.
Sibande (14 points, four rebounds) added some juice, which was encouraging to see considering he sustained a torn ACL exactly 366 days ago in an exhibition game.
"Obviously the guy on my left (Hinson) really played well and shot the basketball well," Jeff Capel said. "I was really proud of Nike for how well he played and distributed and he drove and played through contact, which is a big step for him in his progress back from the injury, missing all of last year. I think he's just going live, full contact, for two weeks now, and I think he's going to continue to get better and better. I think he made some really good passes, some really good decisions, and really helped us be better offensively."
Fede Federiko contributed a double-double effort of 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Greg Elliott pitched in 10 points and six rebounds. Elliott and Jamarius Burton (four points, five assists, four rebounds) were plus-33 on the floor.
For a final tuneup, this went about as well as can expected for Pitt, even after a slow-ish start to the game (2-for-10 from 3-point range; 7 of 19 overall with 11:42 left in the first half). This included performances from nine rotation players in the first half, and by the end of those opening 20 minutes, Pitt had cruised to a 53-30 lead.
Pitt made 11 of 34 3s throughout the game, and shot 47% from the field overall.
"We just all are on the same mission," Sibande said. "Locked in and just trying to -- we've all got the ultimate goal to win and get the job done. We're all focused on that, and it's been amazing.
"I've just been going with the (injury) process and taking my time, but still working every day. It's been amazing to be back, and I'm just excited to keep continuing to get to work, continuing to grow and get better and jell with my team, and continue to get better with the guys."
Naim Miller, a Pittsburgh native and a product of First Love Christian Academy in Washington, paced Edinboro with 15 points.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Pitt possessed the ball 67 times on Wednesday, a tick up from the 65.4 possessions the Panthers averaged last season and right in the middle of that, with the 70.0 it averaged two seasons ago. Capel credited the turnover margin (24-10) and his defense creating chances for the offense to get out and run. The Panthers finished with 11 fastbreak points, scored 31 points off of turnovers, and out-rebounded Edinboro 44-37.
"It's been something we've tried to work on in practice all the time," Capel said. "We feel like we have quality depth, we have some guys that can get out and run, and so we do wan to play at a good tempo. In order to do that, though, we've got to be good defensively. We were able to force 24 turnovers today ... We started blitzing the ball screens, and that kind of increased the tempo.
"Our team, we're going to have to do some things defensively a little bit different to create that type of tempo. There's some things we've done (in our) first two games -- first two exhibitions, I should say -- but there are a lot of things that we've worked on that we haven't shown that we'll be ready once we get to Monday. Tempo has been a point of emphasis since we've started."
• Walk-on junior guard KJ Marshall scored seven points on 2 of 3 shooting in six minutes of action, and that included a dunk which sent the crowd into a roar in the second half. The Reading, Pa. native's journey has taken him from Pitt to Garden City Community College (Kan.) to Mars Hill University (N.C.) and back to Pitt.
"KJ's terrific," Capel said. "He and (Aidan) Fisch are, like, two of the best walk-ons that we've ever had. We missed KJ in our program. He was with is the first couple of years, and then he transferred, and he wanted to come back this summer. Right now, we have nine scholarship guys in practice, so he's the 10th guy. He practices every day, he pushes our guys, and he's a good player. And that's what we need, him to be a good player every day. He brings unbelievable enthusiasm and joy to playing basketball, which becomes contagious."
• Pitt players were wearing warmups with "VOTE" emblazoned across the chest, in advance of Election Day on Tuesday.
"That's something from the team; something they've talked about that we wanted to do," Capel said. "Since I've been a head coach, I've always talked to my players about being more than athletes. Unfortunately a lot of these guys, young people, it's all people see them as, is just athletes. When I was their age it's all I saw myself as. As I've gotten older and understand the world, they're much more than athletes. These are smart, really good young men, and for them, I've always encouraged my players since I've been a head coach to vote.
"I've never told anyone who to vote for. I'm not a big political guy, but I understand what people did and what they sacrificed to give us an opportunity to vote, and I want them to understand that. And so that's something that we came up with as a team, and proud of these guys for understanding that they're more than just student-athletes."
THE ESSENTIALS
THE INJURIES
• DID NOT PLAY: F John Hugley IV (left knee), F Will Jeffress (left foot), F Vason Stevenson.
• INJURED: G Nelly Cummings (cramps; DNP second half).
Capel said neither Hugley nor Jeffress will be available on Monday. He was not concerned over Cummings' cramps affecting him.
"I know they won't be available," Capel said of Hugley and Jeffress.
THE SCHEDULE
• The wait for the start of the regular season is nearly over. Pitt opens with a home tilt against Tennessee Martin at 7 p.m. on Monday inside the Petersen Events Center.
"It gets real now," Capel said. "We're excited about the first game on Monday. We'll be off (Thursday), back on Friday, and get to work, start to get prepared."
THE CONTENT
• Visit the Pitt team page and my Twitter page for more from the Petersen Events Center. The latest episode of the H2P Podcast with Gary Morgan can be found below.
