NEW YORK -- When a team turns the ball over just once in nearly 35 minutes, it's going to be difficult to stop that team.
It's doubly difficult to do so when that team's best player didn't need to be its best player, in that same game.
After holding tight in the first half, Pitt eventually succumbed to No. 20 Michigan's length and depth in the second half, as the Wolverines pulled away to blow out the Panthers 91-60 on Wednesday inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the opener of the Legends Classic.
"We have to get better, especially on the defensive side of the ball," Jeff Capel said after the game. "There's a glaring hole there, and we, collectively, have to work to get better on that end. It's hard. We have to do harder things at a more intense level."
Pitt players were not made available for comment following Wednesday's game.
After a breezy season-opening win over Tennessee Martin, the Panthers' wheels have screeched. West Virginia and Michigan have largely exposed much of what everybody was concerned over before the start of the season, in terms of Pitt lacking size underneath and a physical presence beyond John Hugley IV to contest somebody in the paint. The Panthers have been outscored 172-116 over those two games, and Michigan used its underrated balanced attack to pick apart the Panthers at will, especially in the second half.
Four Wolverines pitched in at double figures, with Jett Howard leading the way with 17 points. Joey Baker and Kobe Bufkin each added 14, and Hunter Dickinson was relatively kept in check by scoring 11 points and grabbing seven rebounds. Dickinson is arguably a top-five player in all of college basketball, and he had entered Wednesday averaging 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
If there was a telling stat to tell from Wednesday, it's that Howard, reiterated as the Wolverines' leading scorer, fouled out with 5:25 remaining in the game, and the Wolverines took a 30-point lead on their very next possession.
Here is another defining statistic: Michigan (3-0) turned the ball over just once, up until there was 5:32 to play. By that point, the Wolverines had a 29-point lead.
"That's part of our preparation," Wolverines guard Dug McDaniel said. "When we practice and stuff, coach reads off the turnovers, and we've got to face the consequences for the turnovers. Being able to do it in practice -- he holds us accountable in practice, and the game is no different."
A couple more telling stats: Michigan's bench outscored Pitt's, 34-8, and Michigan outscored Pitt in the paint, 38-18.
"We've got a lot of guys that are really good," Baker said. "I think the fact that a lot of different guys that are in double figures and what not speaks to our unselfishness. Everyone's making the right basketball play, and that spreads the wealth around."
Pitt's offense was predicated on high-ball screens and trying to expose looser defensive matchups, but the air-tight defense deployed by Wolverines coach Juwan Howard prevented any consistent flow from the Panthers. Pitt (1-2) made 42% from the field and continued its woes from beyond the arc. With its 6-for-20 performance on Wednesday, the Panthers have now combined to make 25.6% (11-for-43) from 3-point range over their previous two games.
"Pitt's a very tough team to face," Juwan Howard said. "We knew their entire roster is based on guys that can shoot. They do a good job of attacking the paint, they're tough, and also athletic. Our guys did an amazing job of getting dialed into the game plan and then going out there and executing it with the toughness and also being locked in, and, most importantly, just sharing the game."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Pitt had a decent start, and hung with the Wolverines for a little more than half of the game. The Panthers trailed, 38-32, at the midpoint, and were able to stave off an onslaught of 35 field-goal attempts (to Pitt's 26) in the opening 20 minutes. Pitt trailed the rebounding margin by one, and it had made 6 of 8 free throws in that half.
"I thought we got off to a good start," Capel said. "I thought we were right there early, but when adversity hits (in) the past two games, we've dropped the rope. That's where we have to be better. That's where we have to grow up. There has to be more toughness both mentally and physically in those moments."
• Hugley was clearly not on a pitch count on Wednesday, in his return after missing six weeks with a left knee sprain. Pitt's leading scorer and rebounder from last season finished with nine points in 22 minutes on the floor, which included a 4-for-6 performance from the free-throw line.
But, Hugley did not necessarily look 100%, either. There were multiple occasions where he favored his injured knee, including during a second-half media timeout where he broke away from the bench huddle and tried to jog in place and stretch the knee out.
Capel said he figured Hugley would play about 22-24 minutes on Wednesday.
"I thought he did some good things," Capel said. "It was good to have him back out there. Obviously, we knew coming in that he would be rusty. We knew, as far as conditioning, he's not at the level that he needs to be, and he'll get to -- that's a work-in-progress. He hasn't played five-on-five competitive basketball since Sept. 30, and Monday was the first time where he got up and down doing that. We knew coming in, the stamina wouldn't be there. But, again, I thought he did some good things, we were able to get it down to him, and he provided us with a little bit more of a presence."
• Your "Yikes!" quote of the day, from McDaniel on Pitt in the second half:
"We saw how fatigued they were, so we took advantage of that and just utilized that to our advantage," he said. "We're a very fast team, so once we get that rebound, we see they're tired, we're out. We're getting easy buckets. As easy as we can."
• For the analytics folks out there: Only one Pitt player was not in the negatives in the plus/minus department in the first half. It was Blake Hinson, who was at an even zero. Nike Sibande was minus-8 in the opening half. Walk-ons KJ Marshall and Aidan Fisch each led Pitt at plus-1, while playing in garbage-time minutes late in the game. Jamarius Burton was a team-low minus-28.
• A curious note to monitor: Jorge Diaz Graham played just 10 minutes, and Guillermo Diaz Graham logged 3 on Wednesday. This comes after each played 3 and 5 minutes, respectively, on Friday against West Virginia. In the season opener, they played 7 and 13 minutes, respectively.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE ESSENTIALS
• Box score
• Live file
• Top 25 scores
• Schedule
• ACC standings
• Statistics
THE 5s
• Pitt: G Nelly Cummings, F Blake Hinson, F Greg Elliott, F Jamarius Burton, F John Hugley IV.
• No. 20 Michigan: C Hunter Dickinson, G Kobe Bufkin, G Jaelin Llewellyn, F Terrance Williams II, G Jett Howard.
THE INJURIES
• DID NOT DRESS: F Will Jeffress (left foot), G Vason Stevenson (DNP-coach's decision).
• RETURNED: F John Hugley IV (left knee).
THE SCHEDULE
• Pitt will oppose VCU at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Arizona State defeated VCU, 63-59, in the nightcap at the Barclays Center on Wednesday. The Panthers return home to face Alabama State at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Petersen Events Center. I'll have you covered on Sunday at The Pete.
THE CONTENT
• Visit the Pitt team page for more from the Barclays Center. You can listen to the latest episode of the H2P Podcast below.
