Hugley's double-double helps Pitt finish Boston College

Pitt basketball had lost three games by a single point over the past month and a half and its most recent loss to Louisville came with Jamarius Burton missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie the game. Jeff Capel's young Panthers had struggled with closing out opponents, but Saturday, they held on to come out on top.

Pitt got its first ACC win over Boston College Saturday, winning 69-67 at the Petersen Events Center. The win stopped a two-game losing streak for the Panthers and moved the team to 6-9, with a 1-3 conference record. The win was powered, super-charged even, by the Panthers' leading scorer John Hugley IV, who finished with a career-high of 32 points and 13 rebounds.

“Proud of our team," Capel said after the game. "Big time win. We made some plays, big time plays. Guys stepped up. (Jamarius Burton) took two charges, one late that was huge. Our team kept fighting. We didn't get off to a great start. We got going there in the second half. Our defense got ignited which got us some things offensively. John (Hugley) was tremendous all game. Thirty-seven minutes (played), probably a little bit too much but we had to ride him and he made big plays, stepped up and made free throws. So just really, really proud of our guys and a gutsy win for us.”

It was Hugley's fifth double-double of the season and the fourth time a Pitt player since 2009 to record 30 or more points and 10 or more rebounds in a game, joining Justin Champagnie, Sam Young and DeJuan Blair.

Hugley was the engine who made Pitt go in the toughest of times of Saturday's game. There were seven runs when Boston College scored from multiple baskets between field goals and/or free throws, and six of those were stopped by Hugley scoring the next point for Pitt.

“I think he's just continuing to work and get better," Capel said of Hugley's progress this season. "There's a process to becoming a really good player individually and becoming a really good team and it's day to day and you got to stack good days and I think he's learned how to do that. There's still a large room for him to grow in that area, but I think he's starting to do that. And when you see some of the results that he has, a lot of times that makes guys want to get in the gym and work a little bit more because they're starting to see the results of that.”

Most notably, Boston College was on an 12-point run that made it look like the Eagles would run away with the game as they established a 24-13 lead with 8:25 to go in the first half. After Capel called a timeout, Hugley responded by scoring eight consecutive points, and ended up 13-2 run for Pitt by scoring 10 of those points to tie the game 26-26 with 4:18 to go.

In the second half, Pitt had asserted control of the game with 54-47 lead with 9:15 to go until Boston College surged back with an 8-2 run that cut the Panthers' lead to 56-55. Hugley responded by cutting off that run, scoring six consecutive points for Pitt that led the charge for for a 10-3 run that took Pitt to a 64-57 lead with 2:55 left.

“It feels normal man," Hugley said when asked how it felt to score over 30 points in an ACC game. "Next game, that's how I look at it. It happened, I scored 32, but I’m going to move on to Syracuse.”

Hugley even hit a 3-pointer, where he's only shot 4 of 23 from beyond the arc all season.

Hugley's physical presence underneath was what made the biggest difference in the game. Although Pitt was outscored 22-18 in the paint, Hugley continued to draw fouls all game long, as he shot 15 of 20 from the stripe and was the leading factor in three Eagles fouling out in Jaeden Zackery, Makai Ashton-Langford, and James Karnek.

"He was in a dominant zone," Burton said of Hugley. "He played both halves and wasn't in foul trouble until late. When that happens you feed the hot hand and I'm so grateful for him tonight."

After facing three different centers because of the foul trouble he created for the Eagles, Hugley said it didn't matter who tried to guard him, and that he knew his plan for the night was simple: attack.

“Attack him," Hugley said when asked about his plan against Boston College's centers. "I honestly think I'm one of the better players in ACC and I think, going against them, I feel like they can't stop me. So, I'm going to just keep attacking everybody who ever steps on the floor.”

Hugley ended up hitting his final free throw of the night, giving the Panthers the 69-67 lead it needed to secure the win. Pitt shot 23 of 28 on free throws for 82 percent, an uptick form the 68.9 percent on the season. Pitt's free throw percentage has improved with three consecutive games over 70 percent from the stripe. That's a big jump from how Pitt started the season shooting 55.3 percent on free throws through its first four games.

“Well, I think we've gotten better as the season’s gone on from the free throw line," Capel said. "Guys have stepped up and made them. (Burton) was tremendous and he made some big ones. Femi (Odukale) made two big ones. John (Hugley) stepped up and made free throws. As a team, because of John, we were able to draw a lot of fouls and then with other guys driving the basketball, we've been able to get to the line and here recently we've done a much better job of finishing.”

Hugley wasn't alone though, as Pitt only had two other scorers in the double-digits in Burton with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists and Odukale finished with 11 points, three rebounds and four assists.

Odukale fouled out in the second half, but made a big impact on the game with an authoritative dunk that kicked off an eight-point run for Pitt to jump out to a 52-44 lead:

While Odukale had the big highlight, Burton's efforts showed again why Capel prioritized him in the Transfer Portal going into this season with heady leadership moments. Twice in the second half Boston College charged to their basket after a Pitt turnover with Burton as the only man to beat. Both times, Burton got in position and drew a charge call.

"Those were just hustle plays," Burton recalled of the charges. "I was trying to save the possession for us off turnovers. I know how important those possessions are and I wanted to get back on defense to make the impact."

The Panthers finished an opponent for the first time since their 64-55 win over Jacksonville on Dec. 21. But it's huge for Pitt's young team to win a close game after four losses have come by a single possession over the past month and a half.

“For us it was just being encouraging to one another," Burton said. "Then also remind each other what Coach (Capel) was saying in timeouts: no fouling, playing without fouling, boxing out, trying to limit them to one shot, things like that. We were able to do that today down the stretch.”

 Pitt resumes its ACC schedule with two games next week on the road against Syracuse Tuesday and at home against Louisville Saturday. All four of Pitt's ACC contests have been won or lost by a single possession.

“Hopefully, this is a breakthrough for us and as we go forward," Capel said. "We can start to stack some of these.”

Capel also addressed the status of Ithiel Horton, who had criminal charges re-filed against him Saturday after those charges were dropped on Dec. 30. Read his full comments here.