Ithiel Horton's 25 points help Pitt beat Florida State, stop 4-game losing streak

Ithiel Horton knows what it takes to shoot a basketball through the cords.

Eyes on the rim. Feet square. Ball secure. Fire.

But there was much more to it Wednesday night when he scored 25 points in his first start of the season, leading Pitt (9-16, 4-10 ACC) to a 56-51 victory against Florida State at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Fla.

“It’s been a rough year,” he said.

Horton was poised to open the season as a starter when he was criminally charged in November with punching a police officer. When the situation was finally resolved Jan. 26 with Horton pleading guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct, he was reinstated by coach Jeff Capel.

Upon his return, Horton played barely half the time, limiting his specialty — the 3-point shot — to just four successful tries in four games.

He did better than that in a little more than six minutes in the second half Wednesday, hitting five 3s to help Pitt seize control of a close game and end a four-game losing streak. Overall, he was 7 of 13 from beyond the arc.

“It felt really good to be in some type of rhythm,” he said. “It felt really good to have confidence out there on the floor. It felt really good to be back to myself.”

Senior Jamarius Burton, who scored 11 of Pitt’s final 15 points to nail down the victory, had been Horton’s roommate during a stretch of four road games since Jan. 30. Burton said he had a feeling Horton was primed to do something special.

“It was great staying in his head, making sure he was positive,” Burton said. “I knew he was going to have a big game, honestly. I could just tell. He was locked in. He was focused. He was listening to the right things.

“He wasn’t surprised. Why wasn’t he surprised? Because he put the work in.”

Horton said his parents kept encouraging him during what has been a difficult time.

“My mom, she’s my spiritual anchor, telling me to keep going. Put that whole situation behind me,” he said. “When I came back, it was still lingering. I was still really just angry at the whole situation.

“They kept telling me put some good stuff in your spirit.”

Capel typically awards playing time based on what he sees in practice. But Wednesday’s game was Pitt’s third in five days and the team traveled directly from Blacksburg, Va., where it lost to Virginia Tech on Monday, to Tallahassee. There was little time for practice.

“After last game, when I went back and watched tape, one of the things I just thought — and I talked it over with my staff — I just felt it was time,” Capel said. “If nothing would have happened and we would have been whole, Ithiel most likely would have been a starter from the beginning of the year.

“I felt it was time to go back to what I felt was our best lineup and get our best guys on the court. It was a gut decision I thought would be best for us.”

Horton said he believed he was due for a good game, based on how he had been working while “staying positive and mentally strong.”

Horton, who played 37 minutes, said a phrase uttered by Capel stuck in his mind before and during the game.

“Coach was saying throw your fastball,” he said. “My fastball is my shot. My fastball is my aggression, my passion on defense.

“I’ll continue to keep throwing that. See if we can keep it going.”

Horton scored nearly half of Pitt’s points, but several other players contributed:

• Burton’s resurgence in the second half kept Pitt in the lead. He finished with 13 points, 11 in the second half.

• Pitt’s defense, especially Mouhamadou Gueye’s eight blocks, kept Florida State off balance. The Seminoles (13-10, 6-7) shot 28.6% from the field (16 of 56) while stretching their losing streak to five games in a row.

• William Jeffress came off the bench to grab six rebounds in 10 minutes and John Hugley recorded seven points and eight rebounds and committed no turnovers for the first time this season.

• Point guard Femi Odukale assembled an interesting stat line. He missed all eight of his shots from the field and four of his seven free throws, but he had seven rebounds and six assists and never came out of the game.

“I actually thought it was one of his best games from the floor,” Capel said. “I thought he controlled the game for us, made good decisions. He attacked and made good passes, played good defense.”