Close isn't enough to satisfy Pitt's Jeff Capel
Jeff Capel wants to feel good about how his team has played the past six games, but it’s not easy.
Throughout the month of February, Pitt has been within a reasonable deficit of the lead – or, actually, ahead — in the latter stages of the second half and overtime.
Inside the four-minute mark, Pitt’s coach has watched his team fight to within seven, one, two, four, seven and three points of its opponent. The Panthers were up, 72-69, at Wake Forest with 3:46 left in the extra session.
But the losing streak kept rolling on, and has reached 10 games heading into the Clemson rematch Wednesday at Petersen Events Center.
Capel said the six-game stretch has been encouraging and frustrating at the same time.
“Inevitably, we come out and find different ways to lose,” he said. “Encouraging that we are in that position, but it’s very frustrating that we haven’t been able to figure it out.”
Against Syracuse, Pitt missed two shots sandwiched around a turnover and a foul.
At Wake Forest, Jared Wilson-Frame hit a 3-pointer to give Pitt its 3-point lead, but Sidy N’Dir and Xavier Johnson missed two of four foul shots.
Against N.C. State, there was that 22-second series of three missed 3-pointers, any one of which would have tied the score in the final minute of the game.
At Boston College, an extended series of missed shots didn’t allow Pitt to challenge the Eagles’ four-point lead.
On Feb. 16, the Panthers were trying to keep up with Virginia Tech, now ranked 20th in the Associated Press poll, when they missed two free throws and committed a turnover and foul on the way to a 70-64 loss.
At Georgia Tech last Wednesday, Pitt was within three with 2:53 to play on Trey McGowens’ 3-pointer. But three missed free throws and two layups gone awry contributed to Georgia Tech’s 73-65 victory. The loss dropped the Panthers to 12-5, 2-12.
Capel and his staff continue to scout, coach and review video to, perhaps, reverse that one play that will make a difference.
But there’s more to it than diligent preparation.
“We have to keep plugging along and keep pushing,” he said. “We have to change it. It’s not going to change. We have to do it.”
After a week break, Pitt’s next chance to stop the streak will come against Clemson, which was the most recent team that didn’t have to sweat out the final minutes against Pitt. Pitt was down, 51-23, at halftime, showed some life, but still lost, 82-69.
“They shot the ball out of their minds,” Capel said of Clemson’s 67.7 percent percentage in the first half.
“We didn’t show up. They did.”
Capel praised his team for fighting in the second half, but also suggested “human nature” might have caused Clemson to relax in the second half.
“We have to do a better job than we did last time,” he said. “That’s very, very, very, very obvious.”
Just as clearly, Clemson (16-11, 6-8) can’t afford to lose if it wants to return to the NCAA Tournament where it made a Sweet 16 run last year. The Tigers have struggled on the road, losing six of seven in the ACC.
“We still have an opportunity,” coach Brad Brownell said. “There are some teams that don’t.
“Our guys understand the importance of what another win would mean to us.”
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Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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