Pitt puts up little resistance in home loss to No. 2 Duke

Duke’s 79-64 victory against Pitt in front of a noisy, sellout crowd at Petersen Events Center made coach Jeff Capel think.

About his past and, of course, the present as his Panthers try to keep up with more talented teams in the ACC.

Duke freshman forward Zion Williamson, projected to be one of the first players chosen in this year’s NBA Draft, was dominant — and he wasn’t even the game’s high scorer.

Williamson put together an impressive stat line of 25 points (11 of 13 from the field), seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals, helping No. 2 Duke improve to 16-2, 5-1. Fellow freshman R.J. Barrett seized scoring honors with 26, and Cam Reddish added 15, although he missed 12 of 16 shots to get there.

It was Williamson who was a one-man highlight reel, following missed shots with dunks and even hitting a 3-pointer to punctuate his domination.

“Zion is a very difficult guy to defend,” Capel said. “No one has done it yet. Barrett is a very difficult guy to defend, especially with the freedom they have.”

At one point in the first half, Capel looked at the scoreboard and saw Williamson already had 17 points. His assistants reminded him that Williamson hadn’t missed a shot.

It reminded Capel of his days as the Oklahoma coach, when his team was playing Texas and Kevin Durant.

“He had 20 points in the first half,” Capel said, “and I turned to my assistants and said, ‘There’s nothing we can do about this.’ ”

That was similar to what Pitt (12-7, 2-4) couldn’t do against Duke’s defensive lineup that had no one shorter than 6-foot-7.

“Look, they’re better than us,” Capel said. “They’re more talented than us.”

Then, he referenced Williamson, declaring: “He’s unique. He’s very, very unique.”

It was the second consecutive game in which Pitt had trouble solving a zone defense. Syracuse gave the Panthers similar problems on Saturday, and now Pitt has lost two in a row and three of four.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said he kept his team in a zone defense to keep Pitt’s freshman guards, Trey McGowens and Xavier Johnson, off the free-throw line. It worked.

McGowens led Pitt with 14 points, but he attempted only four free throws and missed them all. Johnson scored eight, being held under double digits for the first time this season, and never went to the line.

Jared Wilson-Frame and Terrell Brown added 12 each.

“Their zone bothered us, the length of it.” Capel said. “We have to learn how to attack it better. We have to put our guys in position to attack it better. We have to make some outside shots.”

But Capel said he doesn’t believe zone defenses are “kryptonite for us.”

“I don’t think it was just the zone. It was their talent. If we rebound better, we can beat the zone down the court and we gave up 16 offensive rebounds.”

Plus, Pitt missed 12 of 15 3-point attempts.

The game was close for the first 10 minutes, with two ties at 11 and 13. Pitt took its last lead, 16-15, on a Wilson-Frame 3-pointer, but Duke then went on a 12-0 run to set the tone for the rest of the game.

“We took a punch and didn’t punch back,” Wilson-Frame said.

Williamson said he was pleased his team was able to endure Pitt’s first punch and the hostile crowd.

“Yeah, that’s to be expected at every away game,” he said. “It’s being mature and taking the best shot and not being fazed by it. And I think we did a very good job.

“I’m surrounded by great shooters and great players, so I can kick it out and I know they’re going to score, too.”

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.