Now, finally, these Panthers are ready, right for ACC contention taken at Petersen Events Center (Pitt)

Justin Berl / Getty

Virginia’s Kadin Shedrick has his shot blocked by Jamarius Burton in the second half on Tuesday at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt

Now, finally, these Panthers are ready, right for ACC contention

By Corey Crisan

Jan 4, 2023 • 7:45 am

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Remember when I foolishly voted Pitt to finish 14th in the ACC during the preseason? Or when I wrote this column about Pitt's prospects (or a lack thereof) within the ACC way back on Nov. 23?

That was all then, and this is now.

These Panthers have arrived. And they are making national noise for the first time in an otherwise underwhelming Jeff Capel era. The latest act in this rigorous ACC gauntlet Pitt is now in the dead center of has been its best to date, and perhaps its best in four-plus seasons under Capel.

Down by 13 points in the first half, and down by 12 at five different points in the second half against No. 11 Virginia and the vaunted Tony Bennett defense, it did not matter. These Panthers found another way to break through and fight for a 68-65 win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday inside the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt has officially moved itself from a "wait-and-see" category to what now can only be described and labeled as an arrival onto the national scene for the first time under Capel.

Tuesday was the national coming-out party, as Pitt snapped its 12-game losing streak in games against Virginia.

Pitt is 11-4 overall and 4-0 in ACC play after upsetting the 11th-ranked Cavaliers and No. 25 North Carolina in consecutive affairs. The 4-0 stretch is not only the best start in ACC play under Capel; it is the best mark since the 4-0 start in the 2013-'14 season.

"We've just got a very special group of guys that know how to put the battery in each other's backs and play with each other," Nike Sibande said. "We all believe in each other, and we all talk to each other like we are the best players (on the floor), so I feel like that's the reason why." 

Are you starting to believe in them, too?

On a quest to not only have its first winning season under Capel, Pitt has also been on a quest for growth and development as a newly constructed veteran team via the transfer portal.

Winning certainly helps. That is a roadblock which prevented previous Capel-led teams to even have a shot at taking that next step. But after a 1-3 start, including a 29-point pounding to a now-8-5 Michigan team, this group has gone from spilled-out goop to a jelled unit and now into a solidified bunch that has players who know their roles, embrace them, and put aside anything else that is not involving playing winning basketball.

"We put the battery in each other's backs," Nelly Cummings reinforced from Sibande. "I think early in the season we kind of were figuring each other out. But now we're at the point where we're really locked in with each other and we're really trying to do everything we can to help each other."

One key statistic from Tuesday as a prime example of that: Pitt turned the ball over eight times in the first half, and it had zero turnovers in the second half.

"There's no special recipe," said Cummings, who had eight assists and did not turn the ball over Tuesday. "I just want to make the right play when it was in front of me."

The veteran aspect of this Pitt team is clearer by the game. These Panthers do not get rattled. These Panthers do not quit as easily as maybe a Capel team from a year or two or three ago would. These Panthers do not let a bad stretch or series of possessions snowball into a collapse of epic proportions.

In Tuesday's victory over Virginia, another level of that growth was achieved.

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"Really proud of my team," Capel said. "We have so much respect for that program. For Virginia's program. You could say that they've been maybe the standard bearer in this league the past eight to 10 years. And in order to beat them, you have to beat them, because they don't beat themselves. And you have to be tough, you have to be tough for 40 minutes, you have to be together, and you have to fight, and I thought we did that. I thought we did it all game. Didn't show at times in the first half, but once we got into the rhythm of the game in the second half we were able to do some really, really good things.

"Everyone on our team stepped up. These two guys beside me (Sibande and Cummings) were incredible. And for Nelly to have eight assists and no turnovers against that defense and, then, once again, Nike gave us an unbelievable spark throughout the whole game on both ends of the floor. But, other guys stepped up, made some big plays, we were unbelievably connected, and we beat a really good basketball team and a really good program. And, so, I'm proud of that. Got a long way to go, still can get better, and we'll continue to work to get better. Enjoy this, and start getting ready for the next one."

As nationally renowned college basketball analyst Jon Rothstein brilliantly tweeted about Pitt after the win:

They are, indeed, "in position to be in position," and that is a great place to be at the turn of the New Year. 

Teams have to build resumes in the early- and mid-goings of a season. That includes the start of conference play, which now includes two road wins (at NC State, at Syracuse) and the two home victories against the Tar Heels and Cavaliers.

In the four previous full seasons under Capel, Pitt's records through 15 games were 11-4, 11-4, 9-6, and 6-9.

Those 11-4 starts in the 2018-'19 and 2019-'20 seasons turned into 3-15 and 5-13 finishes, respectively.

At this stage, it is awfully difficult to envision that happening with this 2022-'23 Pitt team. 

But this recent stretch has not been all smooth sailing, which rose to a detriment at the early start of the season and is now somewhat being embraced by this Pitt team in winning. Pitt had to rally from behind in each of its last two games, after trailing North Carolina by six and trailing Virginia by 10 at halftime. 

In the second half of those two games, Pitt outscored its foes 87-66.

The point is, those previous 11-4 starts under Capel not only turned out to be mirages; they felt like mirages in moment.

This 11-4 start feels legitimate. It feels genuine. It feels worthy enough.

"I'm happy for Jeff," Bennett said. "Discouraged about our performance, but I'm happy for Jeff because he's a good man, he's a good coach, and he's been victim to stuff that is troubling in terms of losing players. He coaches the right way, and he's got a good, tough team. But he's lost players whether it was injuries, transfers, other reasons, and they do things the right way. I respect he and his brother (assistant coach Jason Capel) and that staff -- don't know, obviously, many of the players -- but he's off to a good start. For his sake I hope he keeps up with it."

That is quite a deal of praise from Bennett, who has won a National Championship and reached another Final Four amid his tremendous success in his 13-plus years at Virginia.

Pitt has not been in this national limelight position since the 2015-'16 season, Jamie Dixon's last, in which it lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, or since the 2013-'14 season, in which the Panthers achieved that 4-0 start to conference play and rode a wave to 26 wins and a win in the NCAA Tournament.

And, if these Panthers can achieve anything close to that, as recent history might indicate as impossible otherwise, this is a team which would have earned it and one which is easy to get behind.

For all of the trouble Capel has had to circumvent over his tenure, he does not have to worry about that much nowadays (Dior Johnson notwithstanding). Pitt's roster is full of likable players that enjoy playing basketball with each other. Cummings is a bright homegrown kid who has easily become the ultimate "glue guy" of the program since transferring from Colgate. Elliott brings fire and juice every time he touches the basketball. Blake Hinson is a bundle of positivity and has zero fear on the floor. Jamarius Burton is the team's heart and soul. Nike Sibande is a feel-good story and is on the rise after an ACL tear last season. Fede Federiko, Jorge Diaz Graham, and Guillermo Diaz Graham bring an innocence and a finesse to the frontcourt in ways which are refreshing from the previously typical bruisers Capel would recruit and deploy in the past.

But, that is not to say Pitt has gone without identity all along. 

"I was talking about (with the team), this is a blue-collar game, this is a blue-collar town, it's a blue-collar team," Bennett said. "We try to build our program that way at Virginia."

And that blue-collar team does not even begin to include John Hugley IV, the stronghold of the Pitt frontcourt who could provide a massive boost to the rotation once he returns from his personal issue. (Capel has been consistently air-tight about discussing the matter. Capel has said Hugley's absence is neither health nor academic related, despite beginning the season with a sprained knee. Hugley was on the Pitt bench in street clothes on Tuesday, just as he has been over the last few games.)

MORE FROM THE GAME

• As we await to hear more on the condition of former Pitt football safety Damar Hamlin, the sports world continues to pour out support in droves. That was no different on Tuesday inside the Petersen Events Center.

The tributes started pregame, in which Pitt players warmed up in T-shirts which read "Chasing Millions." That is the namesake for Hamlin's "Chasing M's Foundation," which has gathered millions of dollars in donations for its toy drive from fans worldwide since Hamlin's injury occurred on Monday.

Then, at the under-12-minute media timeout in the first half, a slideshow of social media posts and graphics played as the crowd came to a standing ovation in tribute to Hamlin:

Sibande said a close friend to the team brought the "Chasing Millions" shirts for Pitt to wear.

"We just wanted to wear them to support Damar," he said. "We all know the situation that he's going through, and we all got our hands together for him. We definitely wanted to show our support and our love for him."

Sibande and Cummings, both made available to the press after the game, each have personal relationships with Hamlin.

"He's a real genuine person," Sibande said. "He just wants to help everybody out. He's really giving, and he just wants to see everybody win. Really selfless guy, and he really cares about people. We care about him as well."

Said Cummings: "Man, that's my guy, man. I don't want to add too much more, I just really want to pray for him and hope for nothing but the best for him and his family because he's a very genuine person, and you hate to see something like that happen to a guy like him."

Capel opened his post-game press conference with talking about Hamlin:

"Obviously everyone saw what happened (Monday) night with Damar Hamlin," Capel said. "These guys (Sibande and Cummings) know him. Guys on the team. He's part of our community, our athletic department. I got to know him. Unbelievable young man. Great spirit. Every time I saw him he was in a great mood. Unbelievable personality, so our thoughts and prayers are with him, his family, the Bills family, everyone in the NFL. We know he's a fighter, and he'll continue to fight. Everyone stay prayed up."

• For the second round of warmups just before tip-off, Pitt players sported white T-shirts which read "Pitt stands with UVA" on the front and with the names of the three Virginia football players who died in November -- Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis, Jr., and D'Sean Perry -- on the back. Pitt then held a moment of silence for the tragedy before the playing of the national anthem:

THE HIGHLIGHTS

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THE 5s

• Virginia: G Kihei Clark, G Armaan Franklin, G Reece Beekman, F Kadin Shedrick, F Jayden Gardner.

• Pitt: G Nelly Cummings, G Greg Elliott, F Jamarius Burton, F Blake Hinson, C Fede Federiko.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scores
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics

THE INJURIES

Out for the season: F Will Jeffress (foot).

THE CONTENT

• Visit the Pitt team page for more coverage from the Petersen Events Center. You can listen to the latest episode of the H2P Podcast below.

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