CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- All is not totally lost, but it is understandable as to why Jeff Capel did not make any of his players available to talk about No. 25 Pitt's 78-76 loss to No. 16 Miami Saturday at the Watsco Center.
An emotional stretch run to close this regular season concluded with an emotional afternoon in Coral Gables, Fla., and the final horn sounded as a last-second, do-or-die, near-halfcourt heave from Blake Hinson clanked off of the front of the rim and fell into Nijel Pack's hands to end Pitt's run as the top team in the ACC.
Miami holds the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament and shares the regular-season title with Virginia.
Pitt will head to Greensboro, N.C. as the No. 5 seed after entering the week with a one-game advantage in first place in the conference. The Panthers had to win to get the No. 1 seed, but by virtue of their loss along with Virginia's win over Louisville, Duke's win over North Carolina, and Clemson's win over Notre Dame, the Panthers miss out on the double bye into the quarterfinal round and will play the winner of No. 12 Florida State and No. 13 Georgia Tech at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the second round of the ACC Tournament.
"It was a hard-fought game, man," Capel said. "Both teams really competed, both teams battled, but in the end they made a few more plays than us, so give them all the credit. I'm really proud of the effort and the fight displayed to come down on the road against a really good team, I think we gave a championship performance, championship effort. We just came up a little bit short.
"They really dominated the glass, and I thought that was really the thing that decided the game. But, I'm really proud of my group. I'm proud of my team. They're in there hurting, and I made the decision just for me to come out here because they’re hurting. I want them to be able to be by themselves, to be with each other, and to deal with the emotions that they have.”
Pitt (21-10, 14-6 ACC) is heading to Greensboro trending in the wrong direction after building tremendous momentum from blowout victories against Georgia Tech and Syracuse a week ago on its home floor. The offense has stayed stellar in parts, but the Panthers' defense and depth are becoming true Achilles' heels at the worst possible time of the season and in the time in which those matter the most.
Pitt was worn down by a physical Hurricanes attack which took each of Guillermo Diaz Graham and Federiko Federiko into foul trouble with two in the first half, and the trend of Miami's dominance in the frontcourt continued into the final 20 minutes.
Miami (24-6, 15-5) plastered Pitt 42-20 in the rebounding margin, including a 14-3 advantage on the offensive end. In Pitt's win over Miami in January on its home floor, it was the Panthers which out-rebounded the Hurricanes 12-1 on the offensive glass.
Miami also scored 25 total second-chance points to Pitt's six, and it pounded 30 points in the paint including 20 in the first half. The Hurricanes did not make a field goal outside of the paint until Wooga Poplar made the first of his six 3-pointers with 5:25 to play in the first half.
"I just think they dominated the glass," Capel said. "They made us pay just about every time they got offensive rebounds. They got loose balls. They made plays. ... We just didn't do a good enough job of controlling the glass."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham pitched in nine and 11 minutes, respectively, as the Panthers struggled to adjust to Miami's controlling of the glass. Jorge posted eight points while making each of his 3-point attempts in the first half. Guillermo scored twice and finished the game with three fouls.
"They played great; they were terrific," Capel said. "As freshmen to come in, in this type of atmosphere and this type of game and this moment and not be afraid of the moment and to step up and make plays. Jorge made some huge plays in the first half that really, kind of kept us close when they had a chance to kind of extend the sting a little bit. But he made some plays that really kept us close. Guillermo battled. Those guys did a really good job."
• There were many in-moment points where Capel had to motion to his team to slow down a bit. Pitt has never been a team shy of playing at a higher tempo or getting after it in transition, but there were some questionable decisions made in shot selection and when trying to break down Miami's defense at times.
"We want to play at good pace," Capel said, "but there were times where we wanted just to be organized and be under control, and I thought there were a few times when I thought we didn't do that. A lot of times if they made a field goal, those are the times where we want to walk it up and get us into something and a few times, especially early, we were just going, we were just going, and it wasn't organized. Usually when we have situations like that we don't end up getting types of shots that we want."
• Greg Elliott has scored two points total over his last two games, going back to Wednesday's loss at Notre Dame. He has made 1 of 8 shots from the field and has missed all five of his 3-pointers since Wednesday. Meanwhile, sixth man Nike Sibande has scored in double figures in each of his last three games including his 16 points in 28 minutes Saturday. Elliott played 16 minutes Saturday.
Don't expect Sibande to fully enter the starting lineup in Elliott's place, but this certainly is something to monitor into the ACC Tournament.
• Asked directly if he believes Pitt has done enough this season to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, Capel responded: "Yes, I do."
• Here is the full bracket for the ACC Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Greensboro, N.C.:
The ACC Tournament bracket. #Pitt https://t.co/sq7f6Gdny1 pic.twitter.com/YTNJW1GEiU
— Corey Crisan (@cdcrisan) March 5, 2023
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE 5s
• Pitt: G Nelly Cummings, G Greg Elliott, F Jamarius Burton, F Blake Hinson, C Federiko Federiko.
• Miami: G Isaiah Wong, G Harlond Beverly, G Jordan Miller, G Nijel Pack, F Anthony Walker.
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
• The ACC Tournament begins Tuesday in Greensboro, N.C. I will be there to cover Pitt's second-round game on Wednesday and will be on site for as long as the Panthers are.
THE CONTENT
• Visit the Pitt team page for more coverage from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla. Gary Morgan and I are recording a new episode of the H2P Podcast Sunday afternoon.
