GREENSBORO, N.C. -- If we could have scripted a loss for No. 5 Pitt in this ACC Tournament quarterfinal against No. 4 Duke, it would have looked like this in some ways.
But, it probably would not have looked this bad.
Identical, 12-0 runs to begin each half were only the beginnings of Pitt's issues which dug it into inescapable holes against a team it was already outmatched against, and as a result, Pitt could not get back into its own game -- and into its own head -- in its 96-69 loss to the Blue Devils Thursday inside the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Panthers bow out of the ACC Tournament on the NCAA Tournament bubble, and with how bad the loss looked -- really, having two bad losses over the last four games -- the Panthers are placed within the conversation as a potential First Four team come Selection Sunday.
I asked Jeff Capel in the post-game press conference: Does he feel his team has put together an NCAA Tournament resume to get to that dance?
"Yes."
One trait which has defined Pitt this season is its resilience and ability to regroup when its opposition makes its run or begins to clamp down on Pitt defensively.
In Capel's words, that was not there Thursday.
"I don't know (why). I'm surprised," Capel said. "If you've watched us ... that's who we've been. We didn't today. I thought we put our heads down, and we just didn't collectively as a group. Individually some guys did, but collectively as a group, and that's been hallmark of our team all season since after the fourth game of the year. For whatever reason we did not do that today, and they made us pay for it because they're really talented and they're good."
The antithesis of an NCAA Tournament performance was shown by Pitt Thursday. Duke pounded Pitt for 46 points in the paint while making 25 of 32 from inside the 3-point arc and dishing 27 assists on 36 total made field goals. It was led by superstar freshman Kyle Filipowski, who battled through a left ankle injury sustained early in the first half to score 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting overall and 4 of 6 from 3 in his 15 minutes on the floor.
"I just think they started hitting some 3s off the rip, they got out, got some momentum, got some confidence, and it just snowballed from there," Jamarius Burton said. "... For us we were just trying to kill their momentum, but they just kept making shots, timely shots. Every player, it seemed like, was contributing on their team. You just tip your hat off to them. They showed up, and they came ready to play."
It got so bad that Duke's walk-ons entered the game with 6:10 to play, and Capel inserted Aidan Fisch and walk-on KJ Marshall with 3:49 left. With all due respect to Fisch and Marshall, of course, that just cannot happen in a conference tournament quarterfinal. Especially with the stakes at hand.
"I think we've got to do better in (the effort) avenue, for sure," Nelly Cummings said. "That's what we pride ourselves on, and it didn't seem like we fought hard today."
Pitt has played four halves of basketball against Duke this season, and the last three have resulted in a hefty margin favoring Duke. Since going into halftime with a 43-32 lead Jan. 11 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Pitt has been outscored 141-95 by the Blue Devils. Duke, once again, went as far as to force the Panthers out of what they do best.
"Our goal was just to try to stick together as a team throughout the whole game," said Nike Sibande, who paced Pitt with 17 points. "We couldn't find our rhythm within the game, so I feel like that's why we weren't able to execute at a higher level today."
Duke also scored 17 points off of 10 Pitt turnovers, while limiting Pitt to just six points in transition.
Pitt did not attempt a 3-pointer until Sibande's missed triple with 12 minutes left in the first half. Pitt went into one-on-one at many points and shot just 18 3s and made five throughout the game.
"They definitely contested shooters at a high level," Sibande said. "Got out to shooters and tried to make shooters drive. That's something we've got to adjust to and get better at."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• One of the bright spots -- make that two -- for Pitt were Guillermo and Jorge Diaz Graham. The twins played major minutes and helped relatively contain Duke's effort in the paint and help force 26 Duke 3-pointers to go up, which is probably more than the Blue Devils wanted to take. Guillermo posted 14 points on 4 of 8 shooting to go along with eight rebounds in 28 minutes, while Jorge had five points in 22 minutes.
On the other hand, there was still the idea of stopping Filipowski, Mark Mitchell (12 points, team-high five rebounds), and Dereck Lively II (13 points, 5 of 6 shooting).
"Yeah, it's really hard when they've got so many players that are so large and so talented," Guillermo said. "It's really hard because you've got to keep fighting one seven-footer and then they still have another seven-footer, so it's always hard, and also because they're big, too, that's really hard."
• Unable to help that effort as much as Pitt expected him to, Capel said Federiko Federiko tweaked his knee in Wednesday's win over Georgia Tech and was limited in part because of it. It only complicated the situation when Federiko reached two fouls in the first half and played just eight minutes in that opening 20. He finished with four points and one rebound in 12 minutes, one day after posting 19 points on a perfect 7-for-7 effort from the field Wednesday.
"He had two fouls in the first half so we sat him," Capel said. "He did tweak his knee in yesterday's game, and once we started them in the second half, I didn't like the way he was moving, and we just decided to sit him."
• I will continue much of the discussion about Pitt's candidacy as an NCAA Tournament team in a follow-up story to be posted later this evening.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer pitched in his two cents about Pitt in his post-game presser:
"Pitt is a really good team, and they're going to be an NCAA Tournament team," Scheyer said in part.
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE 5s
• Pitt: G Nelly Cummings, G Greg Elliott, F Jamarius Burton, F Blake Hinson, C Federiko Federiko.
• Duke: G Jeremy Roach, G Tyrese Proctor, F Mark Mitchell, C Dereck Lively II, C Kyle Filipowski.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scores
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics
• ACC Tournament bracket
THE INJURIES
• Out for the season: F Will Jeffress (foot), F John Hugley IV (personal).
THE SCHEDULE
• Selection Sunday is this Sunday. The 68-team field for the NCAA Tournament will be unveiled at 6 p.m. on CBS.
THE CONTENT
• Visit the Pitt team page for more coverage from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C.
