The Panthers' backs were against a wall after a three-game losing streak, and Wednesday night they came out swinging.
Pitt beat No. 16 Virginia Tech 83-72 at the Petersen Events Center with Xavier Johnson tallying a career-high 32 points, and Ithiel Horton, Au'Diese Toney and Justin Champagnie all scoring in the double digits against the Hokies. The win got the Panthers to 9-5 on the season, 5-4 in the ACC.
But for the first time this season, Johnson and Horton didn't start. Femi Odukale started at point guard and Nike Sibande at shooting guard.
“I told my team on Monday when we came back that we would not have the same starting lineup," Jeff Capel said. "I told them I didn’t know who would start, but it wouldn't be the same. It would be determined by what happens in practice. So I made the decision and let them know at the 10-minute mark before the game when we go through the lineups."
It had to be done. There had to be some statement from Pitt's coach that Saturday's 26-point loss to Notre Dame would not stand.
And it didn't.
Pitt exploded for one of its best performances of the season, shooting 50 percent from the field, hitting nine 3-pointers, and out-rebounding Virginia Tech 33-31.
“For the whole game, I thought we looked like the team we’ve been the majority of the season," Capel said. "We had a three-game stretch where we didn’t play well. We didn’t have the edge and in one of those games, we didn’t play hard. We didn’t compete like we have been. I’m not going to say we panicked, but there was a sense of urgency and we had to fix it. These are things that we can fix. I know what’s in there because we’ve seen it the majority of the season."
That’s how you fight.
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"We’ve had two really good practices that led to this," Capel continued. "And I thought it was a big-time performance by everyone, and even for the guys who didn’t get in the game (despite) of how (well) they practiced."
Along with Johnson's 32 points, seven assists and five rebounds, Horton scored 15, Toney scored 14, and Champagnie had another double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
"Xavier was incredible," Capel said. "Played under control, played with speed, with force, but also with pace. He changed his pace. He was in control the whole game. I thought Ithiel made some big-time shots for us. I thought Au’Diese made some big time plays."
Johnson got it going early hitting three 3-pointers in the first half. Pitt worked high ball screens at the top of the key to get its shooters space to get going. Watch how Abdoul Karim Coulibaly set up for the screen and how confident Johnson took his shot once he was in space:
And Johnson wasn't the only player who benefited from those plays.
He went 4 of 7 on 3-pointers, while Horton went 4 of 9. It took a while for Horton to get into his shooting rhythm as he missed his first four 3-pointers. But shooters shoot, and eventually he found his zone.
Watch how Pitt was still setting him up for those chances even with all those misses. This time, the Panthers used two high screens with Champagnie setting the first for Johnson, then Terrell Brown setting a second one for Horton after Johnson passed the ball off. The result was a small window of opportunity just big enough for Horton to hit his shot:
Heck of a response from two guys who started every game this season only to be benched at the start of this one.
“They were great," Capel said. "They were all about the team and all about us and that’s how we all have to be.”
But the response just wasn't on the court or in any pre-game hype speech made by Capel's players. It started this weekend after the Notre Dame loss, when Toney called a leadership meeting with him, Champagnie and Johnson.
"Honestly it was me, Au'Diese and Justin meeting and being real with each other," Johnson said. "We told each other what we did like and what we didn't like. Au'Diese stepped up and told us, it was a lack of leadership and (the losses) were on us. Me and Justin looked at ourselves, and thought, 'yeah.'"
Toney said there was no question they needed to step up as leaders.
“I called a meeting with them because we are three captains, so I just let him know everything was on me," Toney said. "We got it back in practice, organized and put it together.”
This was the kind of leadership Capel mentioned just last Thursday after the team's loss to North Carolina.
Pitt certainly did put it together. As the outside shots kept falling, the opportunities opened up underneath as Virginia Tech had to start honoring Pitt's shooters. That allowed for Johnson to do even more with his explosiveness.
Here's another high screen Coulibaly set, but this time Johnson went the other way, knowing Coulibaly's man had vacated underneath and that was enough of a window for him to get past his man and hit a layup high off the glass over two more defenders:
The basket completed a 6-0 run to tie the game for Pitt with 11:26 to go in the game.
"We had a big-time performance tonight," Capel said. "So hopefully that leads us to understand, which we have understood most of the season, how hard this is and how the preparation has to be hard. Our mindset has to be right and the discipline has to be there, and we had that tonight. Obviously, in the second half, we were able to get into a rhythm offensively and so that was good to see us score 52 points in the half. We got to the foul line, we capitalized there, and the guys made some big-time plays.”
And once those big-time plays came from different players, it opened up more chances for Pitt's best player, Champagnie, to get busy.
"I thought Justin played well," Capel said. "They were doubling him early and trying to go after him and our guys stepped up and made shots and made plays and that allowed him to get some one-on-one coverage a little bit later in the game and we were able to capitalize on that."
Here was the first of two consecutive possessions where Pitt got the ball to Champagnie to help close out the second half. Notice what Capel mentioned about getting Champagnie in 1-on-1 chances:
Those late buckets in the post got Champagnie his double-double before fouling out.
And eventually Toney stepped up as Pitt's other forward who could work and get gritty points in the paint. Watch how he posted up on his man to catch this pass from Champagnie, then snatched the ball from over Keke Aluma's head before scoring in the paint:
Doing that to Aluma, Virginia Tech's best player, will get you a nice highlight on the night.
Once Pitt started getting its game in the paint going late, the Panthers got into a 13-0 run that gave them a 15-point lead with 4:24 left. They also were excellent at the line, hitting 22 of 25 free throws.
Winning like that against Virginia Tech will turn some heads. The three-game losing streak was starting to look like the last two seasons for Pitt when the Panthers went on lengthy skids that ruined their seasons.
Johnson, Toney and Champagnie have been there, done that. There's a chance this is a huge turning point for Pitt's season and the program. It's up to Pitt's leaders to keep stepping up like this and set the tone so that others can follow and the Panthers can become a more complete team.
The Panthers will certainly get a chance to prove they can play like this consistently when they go on the road for their Saturday matchup with the ACC's top ranked Virginia.