Pitt bullied again, Capel out of moral victories taken in Oakland (Pitt)

VIRGINIA TECH ATHLETICS

Virginia Tech's Storm Murphy passes the ball past Pitt's Onyebuch Ezeakudo at Cassel Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va., Feb. 7. Monday night at

Pitt basketball lost its fourth game in a row and its fifth of its last six games in a 74-47 route by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. Monday night. The win completes a sweep by the Hokies over the Panthers and left Jeff Capel's team without much to hold onto for building confidence forward. It's the lowest points scored by a Pitt team all season.

Saturday's loss to Virginia Tech started with the Hokies building a 27-point halftime lead that started with a 16-4 advantage in the opening minutes. This time, Pitt came out early playing well defensively by holding Virginia Tech scoreless for the first four minutes, but only building a 5-0 lead. Then the Hokies went on a 21-5 run that set them up to control the rest of the game. After that, the Panthers couldn't find any sense of identity on offense outside of hurling up three-pointers and hoping they would go into the basket.

"Our slow start really hurt us again," Capel said. "We got off to a good start for the first five minutes because we defended and we moved. Then after that they went on a spree. They got open looks, penetration, got points off screens and we weren't able to score. We missed at least four layups. Stuff right there at the basket, we just couldn't finish. Outside of Mo (Mouhammadou Gueye) we didn't really have anyone that was scoring."

Meanwhile the Hokies put on a clinic of what a real offense ACC offense looks like. Virginia Tech made 53 percent of its field goals to Pitt's 38 percent, while the Hokies held the advantage in turnovers 11-9, assists 20-11, paint points 30-10, and rebounds 36-19. It was as dominated as Pitt has been all season by an opponent in a year that Pitt has fallen to 8-16, 3-10 in the ACC. 

"They were more active, especially in the second half," Capel said of Virginia Tech. "We went to switching because they were stretching us out on the ball screens. So sometimes we had guards on their bigs, but we have to do a better job boxing out. That's the main thing. We have to play with more force and more physicality."

Only Femi Odukale and Gueye showed up showed up offensively for Pitt. Odukale led the team in scoring for a third straight game, this time with 16 points and four assists while Gueye scored 15 points with four rebounds. No other Panther scored in the double digits with William Jeffress' eight points being the third-most on the team for the night.

There's no need to go over the rest of the game, because it wasn't a contest. The closest Pitt got to Virginia Tech was its eight-point deficit with 5:58 in the first half. For the entire second half the Hokies led by 16 points or more. But what continues to be the pressing matter for Pitt in its previous six games is that the presumed positive identity that was thought to be emerging for this team has completely disappeared.

At one point, Pitt's defense was one of the best in the ACC. Now the Panthers have allowed an average of 67 points per game, ranking just sixth in the conference. The other part of their identity was their overpowering forward John Hugley IV who used to average 15.8 points per game, but now that average has dropped to 14.2, and he's only scored two points in back-to-back games against Virginia Tech. Capel even benched Hugley from Pitt's starting lineup to see if that would generate any difference in his play. It didn't, as not only did he score a single basket, but he also recorded a season-low of three rebounds.

"He was OK to start," Capel said of Hugley's response to not starting. "Look, we need him. We need him to be really good and play with more force. This team doubled him to the point that even before he caught the ball they had a guy sitting in his lap. We all have to be able to adjust to it. That's on John, his teammates, us as coaches, and it requires movement. All of us have to work harder, better and smarter."

"Him and us as a team, we have to switch our game plan," Gueye said of Hugley's struggles. "Teams have realized how much of a threat he is so he gets double-teamed with the weak side guard and we have to realize that. It's not just him, we have to move to help him see the open guy so we can start swinging the ball around to the open man. But it's about being visible and knowing they've adjusted to what we do. We practice it often, but it's different in the game than in practice with the guys we're facing and the crowd."

Hugley looked disinterested in working to be the most physical man in the paint both on offense and defense. That led to him not helping nearly enough around the rim on defense and him not being a paint presence for Pitt in the paint to open up opportunities for others. Pitt also got bullied on rebounds, but that was something Gueye took responsibility for after the game.

"I'll take the blame for that," Gueye said about the rebounding problems. "Most of the time it was my man. I have to do a better job boxing out. That's on me."

Still, the senior transfer forward saw the same problems on offense that his coach was mentioning after the game. Too many players standing around and waiting for someone else to either make a shot or make a play.

"We just have to move," Gueye said. "It's something coach has emphasized in practice a lot. We have to move. We're passing the ball into the post and then standing and watching. We need some moving on the perimeter, whether it's staggering or changing, we have to move to force the defense to move. That way if someone wants a one-on-one or if John is in the post, we can find someone open because we're still moving."

Not only was Pitt's 47 points a low on the season, but so was his only scoring 17 points in the first half. Pitt looked like it didn't have any methods of creating easier shots for someone to get hot and get the Panthers back into the contest. Whenever they called pick and roll plays, the rolling player would either be covered or when he got open, the player with the ball wouldn't get it there in time. But even when Pitt did work the ball in down low it was ineffective. Noah Collier, who started in place of Hugley, was fed the ball four times underneath the basket and it only resulted in three shots attempted, with only one of them being made.

"We have to get points," Capel said. "We have to be able to move to set up screens, cut and not stand and watch. The ball can't stick. The movement opens up lanes for our guys to drive the basketball. We have to play a double-team without turning the basketball over. All of those things have to be better and it has to be a collective effort."

Pitt's lack of scoring ability continues to plague the program and any progress it thinks it might be making this season. Hugley looks like a shell of his former self, Jeffress has yet to emerge as a good contributor, and now even Burton is running into scoring problems. Capel knows there's no magic pill waiting for the Panthers to change things around, and that with several of the ACC's best teams on the schedule moving forward, it's only going to get harder.

"We have to work and get better," Capel said. "It's not going to get easier. That's what I say to them. It requires more. We have to be able to give more and invest more, and that's all of us."

After Athletic Director Heather Lyke expressed confidence in Capel's plans to revive the program Monday morning, this kind of showing paints a bleak picture on the hope that any change might be seen this season. This was supposed to just be a year when the Panthers took their licks as a team in final scores but came away with games understanding their identity so that they could build off this season to find momentum to start in a better place next season. A month ago, that looked to be the path of the team after it beat Boston College and Louisville in two of three games played during January.

Capel has to make sure his players don't lose interest in the program and find it in themselves to step up to the challenges he's put in front of them. They haven't quit on him yet, as Hyke noted Monday, but it won't matter if they quit or not if they just keep losing. The losing streak doesn't make Gueye lose focus, as he knows these will be his final weeks as a college basketball player.

"At the end of the day, as a basketball player and as a man you have to have some pride," Gueye said. "It's pride to come in every day and trust your work. Believe in yourself and believe in the program. Our coaches want the best for us and our teammates want the best for each other. Come in and show up every single day."

Pitt only has another 48-hour stretch before its next game, an away matchup with Florida State, Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. The Panthers have now lost ten straight road games and have clinched having a losing record in the regular for Capel's fourth consecutive season. There are moral victories available to a rebuilding program going through growing pains, but Capel's stacked moral victories high enough to reach the rafters in the Petersen Events Center. It will take some actual victories in the team's final stretch for the Panthers to get back on the right track and at least set up their younger players with a solid foundation to compete next year.

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