Pitt category, Page 81

Pitt’s three most recent opponents have shot the basketball at a 56.8% success rate — 160 shots, 91 makes. The past three defeats to Miami, No. 4 Duke and Notre Dame — part of a four-game losing streak the Panthers will drag into the ACC Tournament on Tuesday — occurred...

Pitt players donned their big-boy pads Friday for the first time since the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 30, and three elements surfaced, according to coach Pat Narduzzi. Intensity. Enthusiasm. A fight. Friendly fire is nothing new to football practices, and Narduzzi was not upset by it. Nonetheless, he declined...

For Bob Junko, the best moments of his 54 years as a football coach and administrator weren’t the Missouri Valley Conference and ACC championships he helped bring to Tulsa and Pitt, respectively. They weren’t his role in recruiting future Pro Football Hall of Famers Steve Largent (to Tulsa) and Jason...

The calendar, finally, has turned to March, and the madness that has been Pitt’s season soon will end. But the remaining games — starting Saturday at Notre Dame and continuing Tuesday with Pitt’s ACC Tournament opener — are not meaningless. Keeping watch over the game will be TV cameras, announcers,...

Nostalgia can be a wonderful thing in sports. Just look at the way Pittsburgh recently basked in the memories of Ben Roethlisberger’s career as he faded into retirement in January. We are also just getting back from our extended trip in the “way back machine” to relive Sidney Crosby’s journey...

In Thursday’s “First Call,” Hollywood star Joe Manganiello channels his Western Pennsylvania roots as narrator of a new Sidney Crosby documentary. Also, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may not look kindly on Tom Brady going elsewhere if he comes out of retirement. The Buffalo Bills may try to bring Rob Gronkowski...

If you’re a wide receiver and you insist on running past opposing players like they’re fence posts … If you get your kicks wrestling the football from a cornerback, turning and running into the end zone to clinch a championship … If you must make 166 catches at more than...

There were grown men holding back tears on the floor of the Petersen Events Center on Tuesday, but emotions might flow more freely Saturday night in Durham, N.C. Before its 86-56 loss to the Blue Devils, Pitt honored retiring Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski with a ceremony recognizing his 47 years...

There’s plenty to hold Mike Krzyzewski’s attention these days. The ACC regular-season title that the Duke team he coaches just won. The looming end of a 47-year Hall of Fame career. The upcoming conference and NCAA tournaments. An emotional final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium against rival North Carolina on...

The grand lobby at the entrance to the Petersen Events Center has been renamed the Thomas E. Richards Family lobby in honor of the member of Pitt’s 1974 Elite Eight team who later became chair of the university’s board of trustees. Richards died in October, and his wife, Mary Beth,...

Reality and emotion – large doses of both – surrounded Jeff Capel on Tuesday night almost from the moment he walked inside Petersen Events Center. Pitt’s 86-56 loss to No. 4 Duke was not unexpected. Even the 30-point margin of defeat – Pitt’s most decisive since a 94-60 loss to...

Tuesday’s “First Call” shows us an apparent lack of appetite for Pittsburgh Steelers free agents. We try to figure out Aaron Rodgers’ future in Green Bay. A tough anniversary for Pittsburgh to celebrate on behalf of Sidney Crosby. And the ticket prices for Mike Krzyzewski’s farewell game at Cameron Indoor...

There isn’t much for fans to savor while Pitt trudges toward the end of its sixth consecutive losing season. But there’s a nice treat at Petersen Events Center on Tuesday night when No. 4 Duke (25-4, 15-3) and Mike Krzyzewski arrive for the coach’s final ACC game in Pittsburgh. He...

Mike Krzyzewski has spent more than 800 weeks as a college basketball head coach, logging 1,560 games on the sidelines. It was posited to him Monday that none of those prior weeks will be as emotional for him than this one. Nor that any previous game might pull at his...

The football sailed on a high arc toward the far corner of the end zone. It didn’t look like the intended receiver had a chance. But Jared Wayne was there, making the catch over his shoulder. If this had been a game at Heinz Field, ESPN’s SportsCenter would have showcased...

Dave Saba was there the first time the NCAA Tournament came to Pittsburgh. It was 1997, and the Civic Arena (where it all happened) was still standing. Today, that site features a big pile of dirt in an empty lot. Then, Saba was seen as an outsider from Texas whose...

Never mind the loss of Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett. He was one of the best players to wear a Pitt uniform this century, and now he’s gone. Never mind that starting linebackers John Petrishen, Phil Campbell III and Cam Bright — the heart of a good defense — must...

The Pittsburgh Steelers offseason doesn’t mean that the team is off the radar. At least not with Steelers fans who read “Breakfast With Benz.” As usual, this week my inbox and Twitter interactions are flooded with Steelers fans giving their opinions on all sorts of topics. You know, like JuJu...

The finger of blame can be pointed in a variety of directions after Pitt’s 18th loss of the season Tuesday night, 85-64, to Miami. The game was close for only a few moments in the first half, and the 21-point margin of victory was not indicative of how low Pitt’s...

Aaron Donald never played for Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, but they are part of the same team of donors to the football program. On Pitt’s sixth annual Day of Giving, Donald donated $200,000 to the Pitt Football Championship Fund. Narduzzi and his family gave an unspecified amount. Both men have...

Two weeks before the start of the ACC Tournament – and with Pitt’s signs of life slowed down considerably by Georgia Tech on Saturday night — Jeff Capel wants to be clear about the current state of his team. “One loss we had the other day is not indicative of...

Christian Spears, who has been Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke’s top assistant since 2017 and administrator for football and men’s basketball, is leaving to become athletic director at Marshall University. Marshall’s Board of Governors voted Monday to approve the hire. Spears was Pitt’s deputy athletic director and chief operating officer,...

A man sporting an eclectic collection of skills, Mouhamadou Gueye blocks shots and makes 3-pointers with greater frequency than any of his Pitt teammates — 38 3s, 59 blocks. In fact, he is one of only two players from a power conference — Stanford’s Spencer Jones is the other —...