Mouhamadou Gueye's versatility offers Pitt hope over final days of season

A man sporting an eclectic collection of skills, Mouhamadou Gueye blocks shots and makes 3-pointers with greater frequency than any of his Pitt teammates — 38 3s, 59 blocks.

In fact, he is one of only two players from a power conference — Stanford’s Spencer Jones is the other — to lead his team in both departments.

He did not play basketball in his final two years at Curtis High School in Staten Island, N.Y., but he grew from 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-7 from his freshman to senior years. Meanwhile, he displayed another of his talents that might be more difficult to master than basketball. He earned first chair violin and viola in the school orchestra.

Now, in his final days at Pitt, the 6-foot-10, 200-pound graduate transfer hopes to provide enough points, blocks, rebounds and leadership to help Pitt (11-17, 6-11 ACC) finish the season with at least a small dose of success. After his fourth double-double of the season Saturday in the loss to Georgia Tech (a career-high 27 points and 12 rebounds), he is averaging 9.6 and 6.1.

Despite its recent three-game winning streak, Pitt has lost five of its past eight games and will end the season playing the three teams atop the ACC standings — Miami, Duke and Notre Dame. Miami (19-8, 11-5) visits Petersen Events Center on Tuesday.

Pitt coaches recognized Gueye’s maturity last year soon after he transferred from Stony Brook. Suddenly, he had even more responsibility.

“I was new here, but I’m the oldest guy on the team,” said Gueye, 23. “The coaches recognized that, and they pushed me to be a more vocal person.

“Naturally, I’m not that vocal. It took me a while to open up to these guys.”

It wasn’t a difficult process, he said.

“They all listen. They all respect me and the older guys on the team and made it really easy for me to transition into that vocal person and try to become a leader for these guys.

“They all want to get better.”

Gueye said his transfer experience has been a good one.

“It’s been great, honestly,” he said. “Coming into this year, I had no idea what to expect. The only thing I was really thinking (was) I’m playing in the ACC, so the competition is going to be better.

“To come here to play for a team like this, to play for coaches like this, to play in front of a crowd like this in a city like this, it’s beyond my expectations. I’m just grateful to be here, grateful for the fact I can go out there and play in front of all these people, put on this jersey.”

With the end in sight, the Panthers do not appear to be splintering, which is a possibility for any team that has lost 17 games. By all accounts, players have the proper attitude and work ethic, but finishing the job has been a problem. Eight of Pitt’s 17 defeats have been by a margin of six or fewer points.

“We have to be better in those situations,” coach Jeff Capel said.

If the team is tired in the latter stages of a four-month season — and Capel hinted at the possibility — he said better communication during games might help.

“For a lot of our guys, it’s the first time playing heavy minutes this late in the year,” Capel said. “It’s very different. It’s not an excuse. It’s an explanation.”

But focusing on the details of the game — when to switch on defense, for example — might mitigate players’ fatigue, Capel said.

“If you throw yourself into the team, you’re not thinking about being tired,” he said. “Hopefully, we can mature and be better in those situations.”