Jeff Capel wants Pitt to put Duke victory in rear-view mirror, look ahead to Georgia Tech

If Jeff Capel had anything to say about it (and he did), Blake Hinson has moved on from his record-setting seven 3-pointers and Pitt’s victory against Duke.

Social media might never end its fun with Hinson’s table-hopping interaction with the Cameron Crazies. But at least the last of those angry Duke students have gone back to class, secure in the knowledge that their team that dropped from No. 7 to No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday will live to fight another day.

There’s another game for Pitt (11-7, 2-5 ACC) to play — against Georgia Tech — and it will tip off at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Pitt’s traveling party went directly from Durham, N.C., to Atlanta on Sunday to prepare for the 72-hour turnaround.

“If we’re not ready to play, we’re going to get our butts kicked,” Capel said Monday on the ACC coaches’ conference call.

Capel grew up and went to school with Duke players and fans. He played and coached against and along side many of them as a young and older adult. He knows beating one of the Carolina blue bloods — the Blue Devils or Tar Heels — is not the same as defeating Canisius. But it must be treated that way, he said.

“In our league, when you have an opportunity to beat a Duke or beat a North Carolina, just because of the history and tradition of their program, it’s a big deal,” he said. “As an adult, I understand how to move on. For an 18-year-old kid to 23-year-old kid who grew up watching those two programs and understands the history of Cameron Indoor Stadium or the Smith Center (in Chapel Hill), it’s a (big) thing.”

Capel hopes his team is in the midst of a major reclamation project after losing five of its first six ACC games. To gain the relevance it enjoyed last season when it finished tied for third in the conference, Pitt must start stacking victories.

“We did some good things to put us in a position to win the other night. I was really proud of that. But we have to move on. We’ve done that,” said Capel, whose Pitt teams are 3-3 in games immediately after beating Duke or North Carolina. “For us, it is important to move on. It is important to flush that, to understand we have another big game against a team that beat Duke (72-68 on Dec. 2) when Duke was whole … that was up 10 on them in the second half a few games ago.

“You can’t stay in the past. You have to take the rear-view mirrors off, and you have to be forward thinking and forward moving.”

The first order of business for Capel was a discussion with Hinson and the entire team about the incident at the end of the game Saturday night. It was no small stunt to Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, who waited with his teammates in the handshake line for Hinson to climb off the table.

“They played a really good game,” said Filipowski, the ACC Preseason Player of the Year. “And, of course, whoever comes into Cameron, they’re gonna see this as their championship.”

That said, Filipowski went on, “It was really disrespectful what they did. So, you know we’re gonna have to take that with a grain of salt and remember that for next time whenever anyone steps in the building again.”

Coach Jon Scheyer went so far to apologize to Duke’s fans. “What happened at the end, that can’t happen. That’s on us. And that’s unacceptable,” he said.

Asked Monday to relate what he said to Hinson, Capel said that discussion is “private between me and Blake and between our team.”

But he did elaborate on what might have triggered Hinson’s enthusiasm.

“Certainly, when you win a road game in a very, very tough environment, it’s emotional,” Capel said. “Our game elicits emotion, good and bad. That’s a tough place to win. Not many people get a chance to win there. Our guys were really excited.

“I’ve been on the other end, on the (Duke) bench when (opposing) teams have won there. There’s excitement. My stuff with Blake and with our team will be with us. But we were just happy to get a win against a really good team in a very, very tough environment.”

Pitt’s game at Georgia Tech will be the Panthers’ first of seven against teams ranked below the top 75 in the NCAA Net. Pitt will play only four of its remaining 13 against teams that are ranked in the Top 50: Clemson, Wake Forest (twice) and Virginia.

Georgia Tech (9-9, 2-5) has lost six of its past seven games, including to No. 88 Boston College, No. 93 Florida State and No. 162 Notre Dame. The Yellow Jackets’ average margin of defeat in those six games is only eight.

“They’re tough, athletic, really, really shoot the ball (well),” Capel said, pointing out he expects a “hungry” opponent. Coach Damon Stoudamire, a former No. 1 NBA draft choice who scored 11,763 points in 13 seasons, has been leaning on freshmen Naithan George and Baye Ndongo, both of whom played key roles at the end of the Yellow Jackets’ two ACC victories against Duke and Clemson.

“We’ve consistently been inconsistent,” Stoudamire said. “Drives me crazy.”

NOTE: Jaland Lowe was named ACC Rookie of the Week after averaging 18.5 points and 4.5 assists in games against Syracuse and Duke.