This one will be talked about for a while.
Especially on Selection Sunday.
Down 68-60 to No. 20 Miami with 2:26 remaining, an offensive rebound and second-chance dunk from Federiko Federiko jump-started a rally for the ages.
The Panthers closed on an 11-0 run over that final stretch, all while jumping on three Hurricanes turnovers, and earned a 71-68 victory to place themselves in prime positioning on the NCAA tournament bubble on Saturday at a sold-out Petersen Events Center.
The fans and Pitt faithful are believing in it. Jeff Capel and his staff certainly believes in it. And, if Saturday was any indication, the players believe in it. The moment was not too big for Pitt. It rose to the call.
"They've shown it all year," Capel said. "I've said -- I've told them -- I think we have room to continue to grow. But when you have a group of guys that are really competitive, and I can't say enough how much they care about each other and they push each other. They demand a lot of each other. When you have that then you have the chance to have some great moments, and we've had some really good moments.
"One of the things we've preached all year -- it really started after we lost those three games earlier in the year was just to stay present. Not worry about the past, not think ahead to the future, just concentrate on right now and try to control what we can control. We've shown that in games. To finish on an 11-0 run, we made an adjustment with ball-screen coverage with (Isaiah) Wong. Our guys executed the heck out of that, but we were able to move on to the next play because that's what we've done all year."
Pitt had a "great moment" in front of a roaring and raucous announced sell-out crowd of 12,508 inside of the Petersen Events Center, its first home sellout since 2019.
"Oakland Zoo, man, y'all are a part of the team, for real," Blake Hinson said. "That was great, and I know how it feels to be on the opposite side of that, so, I mean, I knew we had the momentum, and that's what it felt like."
This "great moment" came because the Panthers were able to do just that. Take the back-to-back plays from Greg Elliott as a perfect example. With Pitt up 69-68, Elliott took a step on his in-bounds pass underneath Miami's basket with 4 seconds remaining, resulting in a violation and a turnover. He then turned around to disrupt Wooga Poplar's ensuing inbounds pass, pick up the loose ball, and take a foul call with 2.5 seconds to play. He made both free throws, forcing a rushed 3 from Wong which grazed the front of the rim and fell to the floor as time expired.
"The thing we talked about coming into this game was we had to have individual pride defensively, but knowing that you're not alone," Capel said. "There has to be some individual pride because these guys are really, really good offensively and they usually have four or five guys on the floor that can break you down off the bounce. ... You have to keep fighting."
Pitt (15-7, 8-3 ACC) fought on Saturday, and it gets to enjoy a Quadrant 2 victory with respect to the NCAA NET Rankings, its second such win including Wednesday's victory over Wake Forest. Those two more than make up for the loss to Florida State a week ago, and Pitt has a golden chance at rocketing forward in the bubble pecking order if it can win at Quadrant 1 opponent North Carolina on Wednesday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
"We just knew we had one more round," Jamarius Burton said. "We play our game with 10 rounds every four minutes, and for us we just try to win as many rounds as possible. For us we knew that was the last round, and if we wanted to win we were going to have to play our game and continue to play great defense down the stretch, and we were able to do that."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• If there was one quote from this whole season which describes what Pitt is, it is this from Capel, when he talked about how the Panthers have come so close together and are able to play as unselfishly as the have:
"It just developed; it happened organically," he said. "The pieces fit, we’ve got guys that are over themselves, for the most part. They’re about the team. They just want to win. Period. That’s all they want to do. They just want to win. They don’t care who gets the glory. They want Pitt to have all the glory, because I think they understand, if that happens, then individually they all get something."
• Burton was tremendous again in his own right, as he continues to build his case to be a first-team All-ACC pick by season's end. He finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, and he made the key steal of Wong near the end of the game which resulted in one of three Hurricanes turnovers in the final 2:26.
Burton forced Wong off-balance and into the paint with 7 seconds left, and Wong chucked up a fall-away layup with Federiko standing in his way. Burton was able to swipe the ball from Wong and was promptly fouled, which led to the Elliott miscue and subsequent seal on the inbounds plays. Burton ended a Miami possession four consecutive times in the final 1:38, with two rebounds and two steals.
"He's a tough player; he's a competitor," Burton said of Wong. "He hit me with two good shots down the stretch, and for me, I just wanted to be competitive on the last play. With the help of Federiko, he helped me big time, and I just wanted to make a play, and I did that."
• The most staggering stat from a Pitt team which largely has struggled to rebound the ball this season was in the second-chance points. The Panthers outscored the Hurricanes 17-2 in second-chance opportunities. Pitt grabbed 12 offensive rebounds to Miami's one and outrebounded Miami (16-5, 7-4 ACC) 39-30 in total.
"We've talked about it over and over," Capel said. "It's hard for us to practice it because the limited bodies and guys playing high minutes. I just think our guys are cognizant of it, and we've done a better job of blocking out. Part of it is that the last two teams, not today, but the last two teams -- not today, but the last two teams -- hadn't been really good offensive rebounding teams. This team was. They were averaging about 11 offensive rebounds a game, so we did a really good job there. It's something that's always going to be a point of emphasis for us, and we have to be cognizant throughout the game to do that."
• The 2003 Big East championship team was honored on the floor during the first half, with coach Ben Howland and numerous players making appearances at The Pete.
Hear from Howland and Donatas Zavackas on returning to Pitt and getting the chance to honor the team below:
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE 5s
• Miami: G Isaiah Wong, G Jordan Miller, G Nijel Pack, G Wooga Poplar, F Norchad Omier.
• Pitt: G Nelly Cummings, G Greg Elliott, F Jamarius Burton, F Blake Hinson, C Federiko Federiko.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scores
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
THE INJURIES
• Out for the season: F Will Jeffress (foot), F John Hugley IV (personal).
THE SCHEDULE
• Pitt treks to Chapel Hill, N.C. for a showdown at North Carolina at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. It then has nearly a full week off before its next game against Louisville on Feb. 7 at the Petersen Events Center.
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.
