Pitt had a tall task to beat No. 16 Florida State Saturday, and the Seminoles' long-armed team proved it was worth its ranking with a 79-72 win at the Petersen Events Center.
The Panthers fought back in a game where they were missing their second-leading scorer in Au'Diese Toney, who was announced to be injured and out of the game an hour before tipoff. But for the seventh time in their last eight games that effort still resulted in a loss.
Pitt's effort did come with Femi Odukale coming off the bench for eight points, three assists and three rebounds over 23 minutes of play, the second-most time he's played on the season. It took a group effort to balance scoring without Toney as Nike Sibande made his third start of the season and had a season high 12 points, and those efforts helped the Panthers stay in the game.
"It's rough when you know (Toney)'s one of our top scorers and he's missing," Justin Champagnie said. "But at the same time, Nike stepped up. He's been waiting for the moment to step up and show that he's capable of doing what he did today. Not having Au'Diese hurts us because he brings a large advantage to our team, but I was happy Nike stepped up."
Pitt was able to reduce the deficit to four points with just 53 seconds left in the game after a late six-point run made the game close.
But eventually, Pitt was overwhelmed with Florida State's superior size, athleticism and scoring.
"They’re an outstanding basketball team," Jeff Capel said of Florida State. "Their size and athleticism as well as their depth makes them a very unique team. They come in waves, and so they’re a very good basketball team. They have these big, athletic guys that they just keep sending in. Their style of play is the way they constantly pressure the basketball and take passes away."
Florida State's starters are indeed big with Raiquan Gray and Wyatt Wilkes at 6-foot-8, and Malik Osborne at 6-foot-9. Gray led the Seminoles with 16 points while Osborne was right behind with 12 points and led the team with nine rebounds. And they weren't just big guys, they were athletic too.
Even the Seminoles' bench boasts lengthy athletic players like 6-foot-9 Scottie Barnes who came off the bench to score 11 points with six rebounds and three blocks. Barnes' effort highlighted how the Seminoles 'come in waves' as their bench out scored the Panthers' bench 33-9.
Watch how Barnes got backed off by Xavier Johnson to set up his 3-pointer, but Barnes was able to come from several feet away, block Johnson's shot, and turn it into a quick transition layup with the foul:
And yes, that's a bad foul from Johnson, who finished with 15 points.
Johnson is still the team's starter at point guard, but Odukale had a decent showing both on offense and defense as he dealt with pressure consistently and gave some of his own while guarding his man.
Watch Odukale's drive against Gray as he uses Abdoul Karim Coulibaly's screen to give him just enough space for an up and under layup:
Odukale could make a stronger case for more minutes if he can capitalize on more scoring opportunities like that.
"He did some really good things for us," Capel said of Odukale. "I thought he battled and gutted through. He's not at 100 percent because his calf is still bothering him, but I thought he did some really good things. To be able to play with poise and only have one turnover against that type of pressure is really good."
Champagnie had his 12th double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and he even helped balance Pitt's offense with two assists to take advantage of Florida State's aggression at times.
Watch how his entry into the paint drew the attention of three defenders and how quickly he got the ball out to Coulibaly to finish:
That's orchestrated basketball, and there was much more of that from Pitt in this game than there had been in recent weeks.
But the problems came when Florida State was persistent on both ends of the court. The Seminoles constantly applied pressure on defense with physical play that challenged Pitt and their offense bullied their way into the paint where they outscored the Panthers 44-38.
"They were very physical and I thought it wore us down and we had a stretch there where out defense wasn’t bad, yet we couldn’t rebound," Capel said. "They would shoot and we wouldn’t contest. It was almost like we stood there like statues and they just went and got the basketball.”
Watch how easily Gray went over Johnson, who was trying to box him out. At 6-foot-3, Johnson was at a severe height disadvantage and nobody came to help him as Gray earned the second chance points:
It was a big part of what kept Pitt from having back-to-back field goals from the 18:15 mark of the second half until there were 53 seconds left in the game.
"They kept getting offensive rebounds," Champagnie said. "They would shoot and get their own rebound and that killed us down the stretch. If we limited that we would've won the game. Barnes and Gray kept throwing the ball to the rim, missing and putting it right back. That kept us from putting together plays."
Here's an example when Gray missed his shot and then went over Odukale as none of the Panthers went up for the ball, drawing the foul and getting the bucket:
When you're overmatched by a team with that much size and skill, you have to outwork them in those moments.
"Some days we have more lapses than others," Champagnie said. "I feel like we come ready to fight, but at some point in the game we have those lapses and that's what causes us to lose. I feel like this was the best we've played since Virginia Tech."
Pitt's defensive effort was better, but the Panthers still need to learn how to finish more consistently on offense. Pitt shot 38 percent from the floor, which was the Panthers' fifth-worst shooting percentage of the season. While shooting 26 of 68, 14 of those misses were layups. The difference in this game could've been making just four more of those opportunities.
"I thought the game came down to our inability at times to finish," Capel said. "I know in the first half, I’ll review it when I watch the tape, but I know we missed at least five baskets right there. If we make half of those along with the ones we missed in the second half, those are points that might make the outcome a little different."
The current schedule has Pitt's next game on the road with a rematch against N.C. State on Feb. 28. But with four opponents from previously postponed games still not being rescheduled, there's a chance Capel will have to prepare his team to play again before then.