Pitt needed two things to happen Tuesday night against Robert Morris at the new UPMC Events Center:
1. Wash away Nicholls State.
2. Get more from Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens.
Check and ... half-check.
Pitt ran away late to beat Robert Morris, 71-57, improving to 2-1 in the process, and McGowens posted 25 points on 8-for-13 (62 percent) shooting, including an 8-for-10 effort from the line. He added a career-high eight rebounds and tied his career-high with five assists against just two turnovers, for good measure.
"Obviously, he scored the ball, and he was very efficient doing it," Jeff Capel observed of McGowens in his postgame press conference. "This is the first time until late in the game that those two guys [McGowens and Johnson] didn't really get doubled on ball screens, so there was a little bit more space to do some things and to attack, and he was able to find some things."
Every issue that plagued McGowens through two games — the turnovers, the failure to draw fouls once he got to the rim, the inconsistent touch — disappeared Tuesday against Robert Morris. And that was just what Pitt needed to dominate the second half, 44-30, and head back East on I-376 with the win.
"I just feel like I was in my own head," McGowens was saying of his slow start to the season. "When we came back after the Nicholls State loss, coach had some words, and, I mean, it was the truth. We just had to come back, bounce back and forget about it."
Nothing, however, highlighted the full effect of a dialed-in McGowens like this sequence: McGowens takes the ball at top of the key. Terrell Brown flashes high, setting the screen. McGowens dribbles off the screen, splits the double team and drives the lane. The defense collapses, and instead of forcing the contested shot at the rim, McGowens kicks to a wide-open Ryan Murphy in the corner for three.
Splash.
That is Pitt's offense at its best — not just one person making a play, but one star commanding it all from the jump and sprinkling in his ingredients perfectly to create a recipe for disaster for the opponent. There is simply no stopping that when it comes together. It's a "pick your poison" scenario — one McGowens understands well:
"Get downhill, make them guard you so it opens up other things for your other teammates," McGowens was telling me when I asked him what clicked for him in this one. "Especially if Murph's in the corner, they can't really help, so I mean, we just kept going that way on the pick-and-roll. Because if they helped, then Murph's gonna have a wide-open three."
It wasn't like Pitt just strolled into the UPMC Events Center and dominated, though. They did get out to a 7-0 lead, but that quickly turned in an 18-7 deficit. One run was countered by another, bigger run, and suddenly the Panthers' backs were against the wall. Then, they buckled down, chipped away, and evened things up, 27-27, before the half.
Consider that circumstance right there: Pitt, coming off that brutal 75-70 loss to Nicholls State, was doing it again. This was their nightmare. They were down early and getting crushed by a should-be inferior opponent — this after all the talks and the lessons conveyed by Capel and company. It was everything they didn't need to happen — but then the defense tightened up. The communication kicked in, and the offense found its rhythm, too.
Capel noted the bigger-picture contained within his team's response:
"[Robert Morris] had a great environment, a hostile crowd — it was very passionate, and when they made their 15-0 run, it was loud and we could've folded," Capel said. "But I'm proud that we stepped up and we made some plays, and I think this will help us as we move forward."
Now, consider this too: Johnson played horribly — his worst game of the year, in fact.
Johnson was the only part of the equation that didn't materialize tonight for the Panthers, as he went for just seven points and four turnovers on 1-for-9 shooting in over 38 minutes of play. One play, however, stood out among the rest, and Capel went out of his way to highlight it after the game.
"There was a play in this game, it was late, and we were up, I think it was 15," Capel began. "I think we had a three-on-one break, and Xavier shot a three. It wasn't a good shot. And shortly after, I think they got a transition basket out of it. I think we were maybe up 17."
Yeah, I remember that one, coach:
"Xavier Johnson pull-up three in transition" is a thing that doesn't need to happen. #dkps #unleash #H2P #ZooEra
— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) November 13, 2019
It was a bad decision on a bad night for Johnson. He hasn't met expectations thus far in his sophomore year, and to truly take that "next step" as a program, he'll need to figure it out. He'll need to have a discussion as McGowens did with Capel on slowing down, getting out of his own head, and letting the game come to him.
And when that happens?
There just might be something here.
• The UPMC Events Center certainly lived up to its hype. The place was clean, new, rowdy and polished — even when the game being played wasn't.
"First of all, what a beautiful new building. The people that designed it, they did an amazing job, and it's an arena that's worthy of a really good program that Robert Morris has," Capel said after the game. "I've always been a fan of [Robert Morris head coach Andy Toole’s], even before I came here."
• Terrell Brown, now for the third straight game to open this season, was one of the top two Panthers on the court tonight. He's become a force down low, cleaning up the boards and swallowing all who dare challenge him at the rim. He posted eight points, nine rebounds and five blocks in 36:13 of play, providing a crucial element in this win.
"I thought one of the reasons he did so well defensively was, I thought he talked," Capel said. "With him talking like that, he was in a stance and he was alert, and so he was able to clean up a lot of stuff at the rim for us."
While Brown's stat sheet shows five blocks officially, he altered several more shots and established a presence Robert Morris couldn't overcome.
Au'diese Toney, who celebrated his 20th birthday with an 11-point, five-rebound night, had the perfect description for Brown's performance:
"Terrell was just a monster," Toney said. "He was a monster tonight. He was cleaning up the glass. He was doing everything — the dirty work. He was doing everything coach preach[es] about us doing the dirty work."
Those five blocks also moved Brown into sixth all-time at Pitt, with 117 rejections.
• Freshman Justin Champagnie tallied 10 points and five boards in this one — his first double-figure game as a Panther.
• Ryan Murphy didn't flash as he did in the first two games, but he still got his 10 on 4-for-10 shooting, including 2-for-6 from deep.
• That Nicholls State loss brought all eyes on Pitt's youth and inexperience, causing many to wonder exactly how the team would respond on the road in a heated environment. The issue still isn't totally resolved — but Capel is encouraged by the progress shown throughout Tuesday's win.
"We're young," Capel began. "We're really, really young and we're really inexperienced. And we don't know success. And when we had a small bit against Florida State, we didn't handle it right. And it was a lesson. I thought we did some good things, so we took a step in maturity, but we're still not even close to being there."
• Pitt's last true road win: Feb. 8, 2017, against Boston College. They're now 1-24 in their last 25 away from the Pete. Hey, progress, right?
• After a 21-turnover showing against Nicholls State, Pitt cut that number nearly in half, committing 11 in this one. Johnson had four of those, while Champagnie and McGowens each had two.
• Early in the game, a fan won Chick-Fil-A for life in a shooting contest, which was pretty cool (even if my personal feelings toward Chick-Fil-A's food are less than favorable).
But then:
SPLISH SPLASH! HE DID IT! EVERYBODY GETS A FREE GRILLED CHEESE AT THE YARD! #dkps #unleash pic.twitter.com/NB1gNHKMnK
— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) November 13, 2019
OK, so it's just a free grilled cheese for everybody, but how cool is that? Dude drilled it on his first attempt. Too bad there wasn't a car or, you know, anything besides a grilled cheese on the line.
• Pitt is now 31-0 all-time against Robert Morris and 74-1 against Northeast Conference opponents.
• Robert Morris celebrated its home opener in the new digs with fireworks — which made for quite the post-game setting:
Bizarre. And hilarious.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE STARTING LINEUPS
For Capel's Panthers:
Xavier Johnson, guard
Trey McGowens, guard
Ryan Murphy, guard
Au'Diese Toney, forward
Terrell Brown, forward
And for Andy Toole's RMU squad:
Dante Treacy, guard
Jon Williams, guard
Josh Williams, guard
Yannis Mendy, forward
AJ Bramah, forward
THE SCHEDULE
Oh, a good one is up next, Lunatics: Pitt vs. West Virginia (1-0). The Backyard Brawl comes to the Pete Friday at 7 p.m., and I'll be there alongside Matt Sunday for all the coverage.
THE COVERAGE
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