Freshman Bub Carrington records 5th triple-double in school history as Pitt dominates opener

Bub Carrington went to the bench with five minutes left in Pitt’s 100-52 season-opening victory against North Carolina A&T, his work apparently done for the night.

In his first collegiate game, the freshman point guard — whose given name is Carlton, although everyone calls him Bub — already had recorded 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds Monday night. Yet something was missing. He had only nine assists.

So, coach Jeff Capel came up to Carrington on the bench and gave him an order.

Bub Carrington, Mr. Triple Double pic.twitter.com/qDWLXxeBrK

— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) November 7, 2023

“He (said), `You’re going back in. You have to get what you have to get,’ ” Carrington said.

Back on the court, Carrington saw Guillermo Diaz Graham all alone outside the 3-point line. A quick pass and a shot that hit the rim a few times and, finally, settled in the cords gave Carrington only the fifth triple-double in Pitt history.

He’s only the fourth Pitt player to reach that milestone, joining Ricardo Greer in 1998, Darelle Porter in 1991 and Keith Starr twice in the 1974-1975 season.

“I was at half-court,” Carrington said, recalling how he saw the basketball bounce on the rim. “I (said), `No. Yes.’ ”

Carrington said “communication and trust” has allowed him to mesh with his teammates after only a few months together.

“It really goes a long way,” he said. “I trust these guys because I’ve seen them do it. I watched them all last year. I’ve seen the camaraderie they had as a team.

“I step in and they share that same momentum with me. They trust me to get them the ball and I trust them to finish the play.”

Humble to a fault, Carrington said he had “a few (triple-doubles), maybe” in high school at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore. “Not important.”

“We’re trying to be champions. That’s what we’re really working on.”

Capel said he hasn’t seen a triple-double in person since his brother, Pitt assistant Jason Capel, recorded one for North Carolina more than 20 years ago.

Pitt’s head coach said Carrington’s historic effort was different because he wasn’t aiming for it, even at the end.

He took only 12 shots and made seven, including four of seven from beyond the 3-point arc. He also committed only one foul and two turnovers in 29 minutes

“I was really pleased and impressed with just how he let the game come to him,” Capel said. “He didn’t hunt stuff.

“He continues to play the game the right way. That’s important for that lead guard position. He can score the basketball, but he also has a really good feel.”

Capel also said he liked how Carrington’s teammates were eager to share the moment with him.

“I was really, really impressed with how cognizant his teammates were of being close to a triple-double and how excited they were that he was able to get it,” he said.

Carrington was one of five players who recorded double-digit points. Blake Hinson scored 13 points and Federiko Federiko added 13 with 10 rebounds and four of Pitt’s nine blocks.

Jorge Diaz Graham scored 12 points in 10 minutes of the first half and ended up with 14. Ishmael Leggett added 11.

Capel was pleased, especially with the 21 assists on 40 baskets, but it’s way too early to get excited.

“It was good, but I’m not going to overreact about good or bad,” he said. “We’ll study it and go through it and figure out how we can be better. But we know the competition will continue to increase.

“My thing for us is to get better every day. If we wouldn’t have performed well, I would have trusted what we’ve done up to this point. But we did perform well. We defended, made shots. We shared the basketball. I’m pleased with how we played. Now, we have to handle it right.

“(North Carolina A&T) didn’t have great size and we were able to take advantage of that.”

Pitt’s defense was exceptional, holding the Aggies to 14.3% shooting (5 for 35) in the first half and 27.1% (19 for 70) for the game.

Capel was also pleased to see the Oakland Zoo in full throat as part of a crowd of 6,797.

“It was cool to be back and kind of have a continuation of how we finished off last season with (the Zoo’s) support,” he said.

“I thought we played really hard and that’s the thing that I’m most proud of.”