No close call for Pitt in blowout loss at Clemson

Jeff Capel spoke with reporters and answered their questions for five minutes Saturday after Pitt’s embarrassing 75-48 loss to Clemson.

But he didn’t have much to say. “They were terrific and we were really bad,” he said in a recurring theme of the conference call.

He sounded like a coach who wanted nothing more than to leave Littlejohn Coliseum as quickly as possible, get his team in the gym and start tackling what looks to be growing into a major problem. Pitthas lost five of its past seven games.

He didn’t reveal any specific plans, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he called a practice for Saturday night after the team plane returned from Clemson, S.C.

That’s how bad the Panthers (7-12, 2-6 ACC) looked in helping Clemson (11-8, 3-5) stop a three-game losing streak.

There isn’t much time before the next game. Pitt welcomes Syracuse to Petersen Events Center on Tuesday night in a rematch of a game won by the Orange 77-61 on Jan. 11. Pitt was losing close games for a good portion of the season; now the Panthers have 16- and 27-point losses on their record in the past 12 days.

Pitt trailed from start to finish. The one time it appeared the Panthers had rallied for a 22-22 tie with 6 minutes, 54 seconds left in the first half, officials took away a 3-point basket by John Hugley. The play was reviewed and officials determined that the basketball was still on Hugley’s fingertips as the shot clock expired.

Turnover. No basket. Still losing.

At that point, Clemson went on a 14-5 run in four minutes, eventually taking a 38-27 lead into halftime.

But Hugley’s aborted attempt was a symptom of Clemson’s intense defense and Pitt’s inability or unwillingness to attack it.

With the 6-foot-9, 280-pound Hugley at center, Pitt largely ignored the paint area and kept trying to shoot over the defense instead of penetrating it. Hugley was Pitt’s leading scorer with 15 points, but he wandered out of the paint to try three 3-pointers and missed them all. He also committed four of Pitt’s 20 turnovers after recording seven each in recent games against Virginia and Boston College.

“He has to do a better job of valuing the basketball,” Capel said. “Teams are extremely physical with him. He has to adjust to that.

“They were very physical. They pinched the floor (putting two defenders on Hugley many times). They didn’t guard some guys and had a lot of help side (defense) and they pressured the basketball.”

Senior Jamarius Burton, who usually steers the team from his point guard position, scored 10 points – all in the first half – and fouled out with 7:26 left in the game.

But Capel didn’t point the finger at Burton or any one player. He saw it as a total team effort, only in reverse.

“Everyone on our team has to step up,” he said. “It’s not about anyone in particular. We have to play better, period. Everyone (must) do their job at a high level. We did not do that this evening.”

Pitt recorded season lows in points (48), second-half points (21) and field goals (16, tied with the victory against St. John’s in December). Pitt missed 18 of the 25 shots it attempted after halftime and ended up shooting 33.3% for the game (16 of 48). Seven of those field goals were 3-pointers.

Overall, Pitt scored only eight points in the paint.

Pitt’s zone defense had trouble stopping – even finding – shooters. Clemson shot 47.8% from the field (22 of 46) and made 12 of 25 3-point shots.

“It’s been bad. It hasn’t been good,” Capel said of his defense. “We haven’t gotten to the shooters. We haven’t kept it out of the high post. We have to get back to work and become better at it.”

But Capel said the loss didn’t represent a setback.

“This doesn’t knock us back,” he said. “Just move on. Sometimes, this happens during the season. You have a night like this. Just like we did when we beat Louisville. You move onto the next play. We’ll flush it. We’ll learn from it. It doesn’t affect us.

“We don’t have to wait a week. We don’t have to stew in it. We play Tuesday. Our whole focus right now will be on Tuesday. That’s it.

“How do we get prepared for Syracuse? How do get prepared for the zone? How do we defend them better than we did when we played at Syracuse 10 days ago.”

Capel spoke like the Syracuse game will be a pivotal point in the season. When he was asked how the lopsided nature of the loss would affect his team, he said he wasn’t sure.

“We’ll see Tuesday. I can’t answer that question. I don’t know. We’ll see.”