No rally this time: Pitt goes down without a fight in 2nd loss in 3 nights to Virginia Tech

There’s not much time for players and coaches to think about all the problems plaguing Pitt’s basketball team.

After another embarrassing effort Monday night turned into a 74-47 loss to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., the Panthers must find a way to regroup in time for another road test Wednesday night at Florida State.

But the immediate problem is Pitt (8-16, 3-10 ACC) has lost its past 12 ACC road games, dating to last season. The Panthers haven’t won since beating Syracuse on Jan. 25, as their losing streak has stretched to four games in a row.

Senior Mouhamadou Gueye, who scored 15 points on five 3-pointers, is looking for answers just like everyone else. He said players, including himself, must continue to work hard and remember “why you do this.”

“What are you here for?” Gueye said when asked what he would say to his teammates to help the situation. “At the end of the day, as a basketball player, as a man, you have to have some type of pride to come in every day and continue to trust your work, just believe in yourself, believe in the program.”

Coach Jeff Capel said hard work is the answer.

“You have to work and get better. It’s not going to get easier,” he said. “It requires more. We have to be able to give more. We have to invest more. That’s all of us, everyone.”

The loss was the second in three nights to Virginia Tech. The game was a makeup of a postponement Jan. 1 because of covid complications in the Hokies’ program.

Saturday night, Pitt rallied bravely and dramatically from a 28-point deficit to lose by five. Monday night, the Panthers scored the game’s first five points and then allowed a 17-0 run. After that, the game never was close.

“For the first five minutes, I thought we played really hard. We defended. We moved,” Capel said. “And then after that, they went on a spree.

“They got open looks, penetration, stuff off the screens. And we weren’t able to score. We missed at least four layups, I remember right off the top of my head. Stuff right there at the basket.”

The 47-point total was Pitt’s lowest offensive output of the season. Femi Odukale led the Panthers with 16 points. Aside from Gueye, however, there was no significant offensive support.

Senior guard Jamarius Burton, who had scored in double figures in the previous 16 games, was held scoreless after recording 21 points Saturday.

Pitt also allowed the Hokies (14-10, 6-7) to enjoy a huge rebounding advantage, 36-19. The Panthers gathered only 18 rebounds Saturday, and in the two games, they managed a total of only three off the offensive glass.

“They were active, especially in the second half,” Capel said of his opponents. “We have to do a better job of blocking out. We have to play with more physicality.”

Gueye took responsibility for the rebounding problem.

“Most of the time it was my man, my assignment,” he said. “I did a bad job of boxing out. I take full responsibility.”

At the start of the game, Capel benched center John Hugley in favor of Noah Collier. Hugley ended up playing 21 minutes but contributing only two points, three rebounds and five turnovers.

“Look, we need him,” Capel said. “We need him to be really good. We need him to play with a little bit more force. This team doubled him. Even before the catch, they had a guy sitting in his lap.”

Neither Hugley nor his teammates have been able to adjust to that type of defense. Hugley was limited to two points in 29 minutes Saturday.

“We all have to be able to adjust to it. John does. We do. His teammates do,” Capel said. “It requires movement. All of us have to work a little bit harder and better and smarter.

“We have to be able to move and screen and cut, not just stand and watch. The ball can’t stick. The movement opens up lanes for some of our guys to be able to drive the basketball.

“We practice it often, but it’s different in the game,” Gueye said. “You got the crowd yelling. It’s different. We just have to move. Too much passing the ball, standing and watching.”