Pitt's defense scrapes together first win, 59-51 vs. UNC Wilmington

The Panthers were a desperate team heading into Tuesday night looking for their first win of the season, but they accomplished their mission by beating UNC Wilmington 59-51 at the Petersen Events Center as senior transfer guard Jamarius Burton returned from injury to make his first start of the season.

"It's great to get a win," Jeff Capel said after the game. "Our team is interesting right now. We're going to have win ugly and that's what we did today. Hopefully we can start to be whole. It was great to have JB (Burton) out there.  He gave us a calming influence and a competitiveness out there. Knew he would be rusty for us but he made plays for us on both sides."

But it was definitely a tale of two halves, as the Panthers jumped out to a 31-24 lead in the by halftime and were shooting 51.9 percent from the floor. Their offense looked like it had a coordinated plan with consistent feeds down low to forward John Hugley IV, who used his 6-foot-9, 280 lbs. frame to bully his way around the paint and attract double teams to open up teammates.

"It was good finding that rhythm," Hugley said. "Our whole motto this week was to get on the left side of that column. So we went out there to play hard, executed our plays and played Pitt defense."

Hugley finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and a steal as he recorded his second double-double of the season (The Citadel). His three assists all came in the second half when UNC Wilmington's entire bench would scream for help defense and the Seahawks would quickly bring double-teams on Hugley.

"We talked about John a lot," UNC Wilmington head coach Takayo Siddle said of Hugley. "We talked about trying to post-trap him because it had to be a total team effort. I don't think anyone in the country can guard him one-on-one. He's a throwback big with his back to the basket who can score. He dominated us on the glass and got some stick-backs."

Hugley didn't panic in the first half when those double-teams came his way. As soon as that pressure came, he would look for an open teammate for solid passes that led to good baskets and solid possession basketball.

"We have a lot of confidence in him," Capel said of Hugley. "John's a really talented and skilled young guy, but he's learning how to put it all together. I look at this as another freshman year for him because he played seven games last year in what was already a weird year and his last game was right before Christmas. All of these experiences are new. He handled it well in the first half with good passes to guys cutting. But as he got winded, he wasn't as sharp with the things he does and that's something we all have to work with him on."

Hugley definitely looked tired by midway through the second half. He wasn't looking to pass as much and even stopped backing down opponents, opting for jump shots instead of the physical brand of basketball that built his seven points in the first half. The majority of his second half points came from the free throw line where he shot 5 of 5 on the night.

Capel had mentioned in his season opening press conference about how his staff was working with Hugley to lower his weight from 280 lbs. because of their concern for him to be in basketball shape to play at his best for an entire game. That issue came to the forefront for Pitt in the second half.

"If he's open and it's a good shot, we feel good with John shooting threes," Capel said of Hugley's taking jump shots late in the game. "But that's not something we want him exclusively doing. I thought John was tired and played tired at the end. We have to work on that."

Part of Hugley's improvement was credited to Dan Oladapo, senior transfer forward from Oakland, who made his first start of the season and scored nine points on the night with five rebounds.

"It was great having Dan out there," Hugley said. "He's a vet and he's very smart. He knows the game very well. He teaches me stuff on defense because he's very alert and aware. He plays with a lot more poise."

"And he taught him some rebounds," Odukale added as he gave Hugley a noogie. "You saw John go up there on the glass and you probably never saw John get boards like that. Dan taught him some things like that and John learned that stuff this summer."

Besides rebounds, it really looked like Hugley took some lessons from Oladapo's awareness to pass to open teammates. Oladapo's lone assists on the night came from under the basket when he found fellow transfer Burton beyond the arc who hit a wide open three-pointer:

Oladapo got the start in place of Mouhammdou Gueye, who finished scoring a single point with four rebounds as he only played seven minutes due to missing the last few practices for Pitt.

"Number one, he played well against West Virginia and practiced well," Capel said when asked why Oladapo started. "But Mo (Gueye) didn't practice Sunday or Monday. He had an excused absence to go back home and deal with something in his family. He got back late last night and was only able to do shootarounds today."

Capel later added that Gueye was fine when asked if there were any lingering issues from his trip.

What wasn't fine was how Pitt fell apart in the second half. After shooting 51.9 percent in the first half, the Panthers shot 31.8 percent in the second half, scoring only 25 points and only one field goal in the final 14 minutes of play. 

"They didn't do anything differently," Odukale said. "We were just lackadaisical with our passes. We were coming together as a team in the first half, but then we turned it over too much. Early, we got a handle and saw the reads coming to us. We knew they would try to trap us at half court so we passed to the middle and drove. But we tried to speed up and show we were a transition team. But sometimes we can't do that, we just have to slow it down and play Pitt basketball."

Pitt basketball, as Odukale put it, continues to be offense rooted in controlled possessions and half court play. Odukale said the Panthers wanted to prove they could do better with that part of their game, and that led to the Seahawks getting back into the game.

"We want to be a transition team" Odukale said. "That's why in the second half we started to speed up our plays to get easy points and fast break layups to get the crowd excited with old school dunks. But sometimes you got to slow it down and run our plays because we've got good sets to score."

Their turnovers also increased from seven in the first half to nine in the second, something that they made an emphasis on to improve from their 32 turnovers against West Virginia last week.

"I watched that game two-to-three times," Odukale said of Pitt's loss to West Virginia. "I know that's not our style of team basketball that turns it over 32 times. I was looking at halftime and we had around seven or nine turnovers, but I know we're smarter than that. We should be keeping it down to two or three per half. West Virginia opened up our eyes to that if we value the ball, we'll win."

Capel's assessment of Pitt's second half struggles aligned with Odukale's, as both agreed Pitt's offensive woes were more about their own mistakes rather than any adjustment made by UNC Wilmington.

"Nothing," Capel said of UNC Wilmington's second half adjustments. "They just pressured us a bit more and we got fatigued. We probably missed six-to-eight shots right at the basket that rolled around right at the win. It was like it had a lid on it and I thought that deflated us a bit. They made catches a little more difficult but the bottom line is we missed some good looks."

Pitt finished making only 11 of 23 layups on the night, less than 50 percent. That's still a scoring problem the Panthers have to fix. But when needed, Pitt's defense came up big with several tops on the night as it held UNC Wilmington to just 28.8 percent from the field. 

"I thought our defense was good," Capel said. "It feels good for this group, with what we've been through in the two weeks of the season. We took some game pressure after building a good lead but we have to still work on valuing the basketball when things get chaotic. We have to have poise, be strong and make plays. Proud of how hard we fought, the fact we defended and the fact that we won."

Pitt's 17 turnovers led to 12 points for UNC Wilmington, most of those coming in quick transitions that led to the majority of the Seahawks' six made three-pointers on the night. While the Panthers looked good playing half court defense, they definitely struggled to stop the Seahawks' fast breaks.

"We were talking about how we were running back," Odukale said of Pitt's transition defense. "When you're running back it doesn't matter if coach said that's your man, just find the ball and find the guy closest to you. Take that man so transition points won't be that easy."

"I've been impressed with our half court defense," Capel said. "Those percentages would be lower in both games (West Virginia) if we didn't turn it over and give up transition baskets. We've been good in half court defense and we've outrebounded the last two teams. We have to be sharper on transition defense but our offense can help that by not turning the ball over."

But when push came to shove, Pitt was able to rely on Odukale and Burton in its backcourt. That's not been a factor for the Panthers in either of their first two games as Odukale was the only guard on scholarship available after Burton and Nike Sibande were injured and Ithiel Horton was suspended.

"It feels good to have him back," Odukale said about Burton. "He's a smart guard. He doesn't rush anything and wants the best shot for Pitt. Since day one of being on campus he's been all about Pitt. He's not talking about himself or going pro, all he talks about is Pitt and winning. It feels good knowing I have someone in the backcourt to come back and let him settle it down so I can play off the ball."

Odukale led Pitt with 15 points while adding seven rebounds and three assists. His ability to drive to the basket afforded Pitt several solid possessions that kept UNC Wilmington at bay in the second half.

"Coming into the season I thought we could rely on the strength of the backcourt and then John," Capel said. "Then the rest of our guys, they're good, but they play off other guys. That's what we haven't had. We just had Femi and John. As far as guys who can create, John's creation comes when guys double him. Femi gets in the paint to force help. Having JB, hopefully that's another guy who can do that and hopefully that opens things up more for us."

For Pitt to be competitive this season, it will need both Odukale and Burton to be strong leaders during games.  When UNC Wilmington applied a full court press, the sophomore and senior smoothly passed the ball through the Seahawks' traps and double-teams to get the ball up court and give the Panthers chances to score in the second half.

But it's going to take a team effort, one that will need to include a better conditioned Hugley. Still, Pitt getting in the win column for the season was a small, but good step for the Panthers.

"It feels good to be in the win column," Odukale said. "But we know we have to move forward and keep it up. We're not worried about one win, we want to build. This is a team that we think can make the tournament. We have to settle down and play the way we believe we can to win."