Pitt basketball suffered another big ACC loss to one of the top teams in the conference in Wake Forest, losing 91-75 at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum Wednesday night. It was the Panthers' ninth consecutive road ACC loss and came against a program that managed a turnaround before Pitt did.
Last year Wake Forest was a 6-16 team that struggled in several aspects of basketball games, though it did manage to split its season series with Pitt. But after hitting the Transfer Portal hard the Demon Deacons added Alondes Williams, Khadim Sy, Jake Laravia and Dallas Walton. Those four combined for 58 of Wake Forest's 91 points against Pitt, and are a big reason the Demon Deacons are now 18-5 with an 8-4 ACC record under head coach Steve Forbes. Their efforts have made Wake Forest the second-best scoring team in the ACC with 79.3 points per game. The only other team ahead of them is Duke.
"They are as good of an offensive team as we've been all season," Capel said of Wake Forest. "Alondes Williams is a phenomenal player and was one assist away from a triple-double. I thought our guys fought a bit more in the second half when we only had five turnovers, but we dug a hole so deep that it was too hard to get out of on the road."
It was quickly apparent how those added players made them a different team in 2022 as Wake Forest jumped out to a 16-3 lead over Pitt less than four minutes into the game in a run that included making four consecutive three-point shots. Meanwhile, Pitt's two leading scorers on the season, John Hugley IV and Jamarius Burton each only had two points in the first half. The only player who seemed capable of making plays consistently throughout the game was Femi Odukale, who led the Panthers with 23 points on the night.
"He made some plays and some shots," Capel said of Odukale. "Got into a good rhythm offensively, made some drives and some threes early. He got to the basket and was able to finish there."
But between Wake Forest's shooting 55 percent on field goals and 15 of 29 on three-pointers, Pitt was overmatched by a more talented team that had the chemistry and athleticism to dominate on both ends of the floor. Offensively and defensively the Demon Deacons did what they wanted, outscoring Pitt 46-24 in the first half and looking more composed on offense with 20 assists to Pitt's 13 on the night. The Panthers played better in the second half, outscoring the Demon Deacons 51-45 in the most points scored by the Panthers in a half this season, but it wasn't nearly enough to get them back into the game.
"I didn't think Wake felt us early," Capel said. "We didn't do a good job of that. Everything was easy. We didn't force them to turn their back, there was no pressure on the ball handler and we made it easier for them to see their passes. We weren't up on the ball nearly enough. They're a really good offensive team and we made it easier. They made shots and they really moved the basketball," Capel said of Wake Forest. "Williams is really good from the standpoint that he has such a great feel for the game. He anticipates when guys are open to find guys like Laravia. He hadn't made a lot of three-pointers but then he shot 4 of 6 beyond the perimeter."
Laravia led Wake Forest with 19 points, including shooting 4 of 6 on three-pointers. Walton scored 16 and hit all six of his field goals, Williams had a double-double with 15 points and ten rebounds, Isaiah Mucius scored 14 and Daivien Williamson scored 12.
It took until the second half for Pitt's other scorers to kick in as Hugley found his rhythm to finish with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Burton finished with ten points and Mouhammadou Gueye finished with nine. The Panthers did look more composed on offense, but only after their defense had been ripped apart by Wake Forest.
"I was encouraged by some of the things offensively we did," Capel said. "But defensively is where we have to hang our hat. We're not going to outscore people. That's not who we are and we have to get back to the grit and the dirty work to put ourselves in position to win. We have to work at it."
Hugley's resurgence in the second half might have been the awakening he needed. His only points in the first half came on a jump shot, an element of his game that isn't his strength. Much like his last game against Boston College, Hugley looked disinterested or uncertain about how to score in the paint, the method that's made him the Panthers' leading scorer at 15.3 points per game. But Capel that picked up in his 15-point second half performance, and is something Capel continues to work for Hugley to make a more consistent part of his game.
"He has to roll harder," Capel said. "Finish through contact, play through contact and get angles. Just finish. He had some opportunities in the first half. Their length bothered him in the first half but he adjusted to it in the second half and made some plays at the basket."
Meanwhile, it was Odukale's 23-point night that did the most damage for Pitt on the night. It was the second-most points he's scored on the season and the most he's scored in a game against an ACC opponent. Odukale attributed it to his coaches and teammates challenging him Tuesday in practice.
"Yesterday we had a team meeting and people said I was struggling," Odukale said. "Teammates and coaches said I wasn't playing like myself, so I said I would get back to that. I knew it myself and was putting pressure on myself, but when I heard it from others it sounded like was letting them down. I didn't want to let people down anymore. I need to be aggressive and look for my shots. I get in my head too much when I miss layups. I'm not going to let my teammates, fans and my family down. When they told me that, I said it was time to wake up."
But that practice had to be without Capel, as Pitt's head coach and his brother and assistant coach Jason Capel were both in COVID protocols as Jeff Capel tested positive for COVID Sunday.
"Today was the first day I've seen my team since Sunday morning," Capel said. "I found out 15 minutes before we were getting ready to leave that I was positive. I haven't been around them. I've talked to them on Zoom, but when I got here this morning at 10:15, that was my first contact with them."
After the throttling at the hands of Wake Forest, Capel noted that seeing the Demon Deacons' turnaround under coach Forbes was something encouraging in today's college basketball landscape that has thousands of transfer players each year switching between programs across the country.
"It's encouraging," Capel said of Wake Forest's Transfer Portal efforts. "They did an outstanding job in the Transfer Portal. They got four guys who were difference makers for them that helped their returning players Isaiah Mucius and Daivien Williamson not be the primary players but play their actual positions and fill those roles well. College athletics and especially college basketball is very different right now. We have to adjust to it, but there's an opportunity to improve your team fast and Wake's an example of that."
If Pitt wants to start any part of the kind of flip in performance Wake Forest did, its best chance might be its next two games that are a home-and-home series against Virginia Tech, who has a 3-7 conference record just above Pitt's 3-8 record. The Panthers will face them 7 p.m. Saturday at the Petersen Events Center and then travel to Blacksburg to face the Hokies again on Monday at 7 p.m. for a game that was rescheduled from earlier in the season. But Capel isn't worried about the second game or the rebuild that will come after, as he's still just focused on Pitt's first matchup at home with the Hokies.
"I try to keep us looking at one game at a time," Capel said. "Right now, all of my attention will be on Virginia Tech. For the most part this season, our team has responded well after playing poorly. We certainly haven't in the past couple games, but that was a weird weekend and we played an outstanding team today. We responded after Clemson, hopefully we can respond Saturday."
