Next up for Pitt: No. 21 Duke in ACC Tournament quarterfinal

There may be some factions of the Pitt fan base excited for the Panthers’ next game in the ACC Tournament just because it’s Duke, one of the blue bloods of college basketball.

It matters to Pitt forward Blake Hinson, too, but for another, simpler reason: It just happens to be the next game.

“I’m looking forward to whoever else is in front of us for the rest of the season,” Hinson said Wednesday on the 93.7 The Fan postgame show after the 89-81 victory against Georgia Tech. “That’s all there is to it. It doesn’t matter who exactly it is. If they’re in front of us, we have to play them and I’m ready for that.”

The game is a big opportunity for Pitt to cement its NCAA Tournament resume, if the 22nd victory Wednesday didn’t already do that. But it also will sweep the winner into the ACC Tournament’s Friday night semifinal round against either Miami or Wake Forest.

Pitt hasn’t won two games in the ACC Tournament since 2014, the only season in nine years it finished with more than 22 victories. The game will tip off at 2:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2.

Pitt and Duke have met 23 times in a series that has been played sporadically since 1938. Duke has won 15, including a 77-69 decision Jan. 11 in Durham, N.C., a game Pitt led by 11 points at halftime.

“It seemed liked forever ago,” coach Jeff Capel said. “They’re probably the hottest team in the league (winner of six in a row).”

Duke (23-8 and seeded fourth in the tournament) is led by five freshmen who are among the team’s top seven scorers.

Kyle Filipowski, a 7-footer, is head of the class, receiving as many votes (three) for ACC Player of the Year as Pitt’s Jamarius Burton. He averages 15 points and 9.2 rebounds per game after hitting Pitt with 28 and 15.

Filipowski is followed by 6-foot-5 guard Tyrese Proctor (third, 9.2 points), 6-8 Mark Mitchell (fourth, 9.1), 6-7 Dariq Whitehead (fifth, 8.0) and 7-1 Dereck Lively (seventh, 5.1). No wonder, Pitt was out-rebounded, 51-28.

“Those freshmen have grown up,” Capel said. “It will be a heck of a game. I think we’ve gotten better since we played them too. We’re excited about the challenge.”

Capel, a four-year Duke starter in his playing days, is 1-4 against his alma mater as Pitt’s coach. He served as acting Duke head coach for eight games (5-3) when Krzyzewski had back surgery in 2016-2017 and was ill for a game in 2017-2018.

Capel already had been at Pitt four seasons when Krzyzewski retired after last season and was replaced by Jon Scheyer, 34.

“Jon has done a heck of a job, and I’m not surprised,” said Capel, who worked on the Duke staff with Scheyer for five seasons. “When he joined the staff at Duke, I could see right away … why he was a really good player, because he had a great feel. You could see he had a great feel for the game, but also a really good feel for people.

“You just saw him become more confident and to grow and to get better. He’s a guy that wants to be really good. He’s passionate about what he does.”

Capel acknowledged the pressure Scheyer faced replacing a legendary coach. The Blue Devils were ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press preseason poll, but will take a No. 21 ranking into Thursday’s game.

“When you look at the circumstances, you’re taking over for — look, I think (Krzyzewski) is the greatest coach ever — there’s no more pressure than that. I think he’s handled everything in an unbelievable fashion.

“There’s a lot of expectations and pressure on Jon, on the guys in that program, and I think he and his staff have done a really good job of managing that, managing expectations and helping them just get better week by week.

“They’re playing with a lot of confidence. Obviously, they’re really talented. They’ve always been talented, but they’ve grown up because they’ve taken some lumps and they’ve stayed together.”