ATLANTA -- Jeff Capel grins from his post-game podium, locking eyes with reporters and bobbing his head in that excited way he rarely does. He's gushing. Capel, usually reserved when discussing individual performances, win or lose, opens up on this rain-soaked Wednesday evening at McCamish Pavilion.
His Panthers just fell — and fell hard — losing 73-57 to the 16-14 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, completing a disastrous seven-game losing streak to cap off the regular season in the process. And yet, Capel raves.
"I love guys that love to compete and that are all about 'team,' and just his competitive spirit and his energy for his team and this program, it’s contagious," Capel was saying. "I’ve watched him on tape. He’s playing a banjo. He’s marching. I mean, he’s doing all these different things, and that becomes contagious. I have a hell of an amount of respect for people that do that."
That's as complimentary as it gets from Capel. The twist here?
He wasn't talking about one of his guys. He was talking about Jose Alvarado, the 6-foot point guard on the other side who torched his Panthers to the tune of 23 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. He was the best player on the court, and second place wasn't close.
"He plays with great spirit," Capel continued. " ... He looks like he loves to compete — not just play basketball — but he loves to compete. And he loves to figure out how to beat you and how to get under your skin and how to motivate his team and all of those things. I think that’s what makes him such a challenge. He’s a good guard. He’s a very good guard."
All this strikes the heart of one massive, lingering issue for Pitt this season: Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens did not take the Year 2 leap expected of them. I recently shared my thoughts on Johnson in particular, but in this one, Johnson took two steps back then jacked up a momentum-killing, game-ending three-point attempt.
OK, so technically, there were no steps back. It was a pull-up three in transition, but hear me out: Pitt trailed by 18 — 30-12 — with 3:41 left in the first half. Then Ryan Murphy hit a three. Then Gerald Drumgoole added three more. Johnson drilled a third triple. Suddenly, the Panthers cut that Georgia Tech lead in half and carried some momentum into the half.
It only got better for them after the break.
"We came out in the second half, we forced a quick timeout by them with us pressing right across halfcourt with the trap," Capel was saying. "We were able to make a couple shots and we had the momentum a little bit."
They sure did, down just four, 32-28, with 18 minutes to go. Michael Devoe loses the ball, and Johnson comes away with it. He doesn't settle. He doesn't run the offense. He doesn't survey the scene. He sees the basket, and he sees an opportunity.
Brick, going the other way.
Georgia Tech bumped the lead out to six on an Evan Cole dunk, but Justin Champagnie narrowed it back to four with a pair of free throws, 16:43 to go in the game. Jordan Usher provided the equalizer with a massive tomahawk slam slashing through the lane, then Johnson forced a floater, bodies all over him, that nipped at the front of the rim before heading back the other way, resulting in another Cole layup.
Pitt never brought it within single digits from there, falling behind by as many as 21 before eventually losing by 16.
This fact resonates: Both times Pitt closed the gap to four — real, no-joke striking distance on the road — Johnson took a bad shot that Georgia Tech converted to points and to momentum of their own.
And this comparison resonates even more:
• Alvarado: 23 points, 50 percent shooting (8 for 16), 5 for 5 from the line, nine rebounds, five assists, three fouls, two turnovers, two steals, one block
• Johnson: Eight points, 29 percent shooting (2 for 7), 2 for 2 from the line, two rebounds, two assists, five fouls plus a technical on his way out, six turnovers, two steals, one block
One guy played within the offense, hustled everywhere, trusted his teammates and created opportunities when needed.
The other guy forced the issue, finished with three times as many turnovers as assists and watched the final five minutes from the bench.
Oh, and one guy made Capel smile after the game, too.
I'll let you guess who's who.
• This Pitt team is not worse than last year's. It's certainly not worse than that 8-24 (0-18 ACC) Kevin Stallings nightmare in 2017-18. What it may be, however, is more disappointing than either. There is, no doubt, some talent on this Panthers squad, and that talent has performed at times.
Thoughts of an NCAA Tournament berth were always premature, but as recently as early February, an NIT bid seemed likely. Pitt doubled their win total in conference play from a year ago, and yet ... Well, there's just really no way to make a 1-8 faceplant in your last nine look good, especially when that results in a sub-.500 regular season, eh?
"Yeah, for sure," Eric Hamilton said when I asked him if there was any additional motivation to finish above .500. "We definitely needed that, definitely a win that we wanted to get. But, you know, every win is a win that we wanted to get."
Disappointing?
"No consolation prizes for me, man," is how Hamilton put it.
Still encouraging, too? Mhm.
• Speaking of Hamilton, he played 22 minutes and some change tonight, the most of any big, scoring a team-high 12 points and nabbing nine rebounds while drawing six fouls. Last game, after the team's loss against North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C., Hamilton discussed his ankle and knee injuries and how they affected him this season.
While recovering from those ailments certainly hampered his performance a bit, there's no denying his hustle and his energy when he's locked in. Hamilton spoke after this game with fire and a little venom. He's tired of losing.
“If you’re not thinking about helping the team win or doing whatever it is or whatever coach asks as far as the game plan, then you’re just effed up in the head mentally," Hamilton was saying. "I know for me, that’s what I’m thinking about and I know that for us, that’s what we’re thinking about and that’s what we should be thinking about.”
Think that guy's going to give up? Not a chance.
“For me, I don’t see why [the season is] over," he said. "I obviously know we won’t get an at-large bid right now, finishing under .500. We wouldn’t get an NIT bid if we finished under .500, of course, if we lost our next game. But for me, I’ve seen things happen. We’re on a seven-game losing streak, so who knows? We might turn it around next game and go on a streak and win two or three, so, like, for me, I’m not sitting here, I’m not going, ‘Aww, man. Season’s over. Season’s over.’ I’m not hanging my head.”
• That's all inspiring and nice, but uhh ... it's probably over for Pitt. They're out of gas. They've been out of gas.
"I think we got screwed on the schedule," Capel was saying. "And I’ve been upset about it. I wish other people were upset about it. We’re the only team that hadn’t had a bye. We won’t even get a full week like everyone else has had in our league. We’ve played, I think, four teams this year off of their bye. I think we’ve had more 9 o’clock games. I think we’ve had more noon games. It’s been really interesting, and I do think that has affected us a little bit."
So there's that. But there's not been a significant spike in performance at any point down the stretch to inspire some kind of miraculous turnaround, either. Convenient or real or unfair as that may be, this Pitt team let opportunity after opportunity slip, and they paid for it.
I'll put it this way: Who can you envision stepping up and propelling Pitt toward even two wins in the ACC Tournament? Where's it coming from?
Exactly.
• This, from Murphy, was welcome:
He went 2 for 4 from deep in the loss, his first multi-three game since Jan. 25 against Syracuse, when he went 2 for 7.
• Georgia Tech deserves its share of credit here. It wasn't just Pitt faltering and sputtering. It was Georgia Tech putting four scorers in double digits, Alvarado leading the way, and the coaching staff ensuring its team was ready to roll. The program is banned from postseason play this year over "impermissible benefits" from boosters, but that didn't stop them from swarming early and often.
"I think they’re playing really good basketball right now, and that’s an unbelievable testament to [head coach Josh Pastner] and his staff and to the veteran guys on their team to be playing this well with what they’re going through, the uncertainty, where you finally find out you’re not going to be able to play in the postseason and to still have his guys juiced up and ready to play — it’s a sign of a coaching staff, to me, that’s connected to his guys," Capel said.
The Yellow Jackets are 5-1 in their last six, with one regular-season game to go against Clemson.
• Pitt forced 18 turnovers, marking their 17th game forcing at least 15. They scored just eight points off those turnovers. Oh, and they turned the ball over 18 times themselves — while making just 17 field goals. Never a good look to post more turnovers than made shots, friends.
• On that note, Pitt shot just 30.9 percent (17 for 55) in this one, and they're on pace for the team's worst shooting season since 1968-69.
Just read that sentence again.
My goodness. Historically bad shooting in the most literal sense.
• Champagnie, with 11 points Wednesday night, moved past Sam Clancy and into sixth place on the freshman scoring chart. He has 379 points this season.
• It was senior night for Georgia Tech, and redshirt senior guard Shembari Phillips got the honorary start before coming back later in the game to nail a three. Even with all the good from Georgia Tech happening in this one, that was the loudest pop from the home crowd this evening.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE STARTING LINEUPS
For Capel's Panthers:
Xavier Johnson, guard
Trey McGowens, guard
Au'Diese Toney, guard
Justin Champagnie, forward
Terrell Brown, forward
And for Pastner's Yellow Jackets:
Shembari Phillips, guard
Michael Devoe, guard
Jordan Usher, forward
Moses Wright, forward
James Banks III, center
THE SCHEDULE
That's a wrap on the regular season. Pitt will play on Day 1 of the ACC Tournament, Tuesday, March 10, in Greensboro, N.C. I'll be on the coverage for that.
THE COVERAGE
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