Hot-shooting Notre Dame sends Pitt to 3rd straight loss

Jeff Capel had plenty to say after Notre Dame did anything it wanted Saturday night in an 84-58 demolition of Pitt at Petersen Events Center.

There were so many negative remarks that it was hard to pick out the one that told the true story of what has happened to Pitt 13 games into the season.

• Was it this?

“Really, really deplorable performance by us,” he said at the outset of his postgame zoom call with reporters. “Embarrassing in every sense of the word.”

• Or this, “Everyone on our team was bad.”

• Maybe this, considering he did not expect to say anything like, “We didn’t play any defense all game.”

• But maybe Capel’s most revealing reaction surfaced when he was asked how he expects his team to respond to Pitt’s worst loss since Kevin Stallings final season as coach (2017-18).

“I don’t know. Great question,” Capel said. “But we’ll see.”

No one, least of all Capel, expected Pitt to lose to the struggling Irish by 26 points. And, now, with a three-game losing streak, Pitt faces a stretch of games against three ranked teams — Virginia Tech (No. 20), Florida State (No. 16) and Louisville (No. 25). And no one knows how Pitt will handle that tough gauntlet.

Not even the Hokies, who are Wednesday’s opponent at the Pete, were foremost on Capel’s mind after the game.

“I’m worried about practice,” he said. “That’s all I’m worried about is us getting together on Monday and practicing and figuring it out from there.”

As late as the pregame walk-through, Capel said he didn’t get any sense of what was about to unfold.

Notre Dame (6-9, 3-6) came into the game a loser in five of its previous seven games with the ACC’s second-worst defense (72.6 points per game). Pitt (8-5, 4-4) had the best 3-point defense in the ACC (28.2%).

So, what happened?

Pitt managed only 58 points while shooting 31.5%. Meanwhile, the Irish, who do lead the ACC in shooting percentage from beyond the arc, hit 54.2% (13 of 24), almost 16% better than their season average.

Overall, Notre Dame made 32 of 57 shots for 56.1%, the high mark for a Pitt opponent this season. Pitt’s players had trouble keeping opponents in front of them on defense and identifying opposing shooters.

This, despite Capel’s warnings in practice last week.

“Things that we talked about, that we worked on in practice and tried to do to prepare for this game,” Capel said, “we came out and did nothing, as far as execution-wise on the defensive end.”

What happened to the Pitt defense that is still in the top half of the ACC in points allowed?

“I don’t know,” Capel said. “We have to figure it out and we have to fix it. They were able to get whatever they wanted, middle, baseline, transition.”

Justin Champagnie recorded his seventh double-double (19 points, 11 rebounds). But after attempting a total of only 21 shots in the previous two games, he shot 20 times, missing 12.

But what might be just as troubling — if not moreso — was Pitt’s Xavier Johnson and Ithiel Horton being called for technical fouls in the second half with the score out of hand.

Johnson fouled out on his technical with 11 minutes, 28 seconds left in the game after missing a layup and protesting the subsequent reaching foul against him.

Horton wasn’t ejected, but he went to the locker room before the game ended. Players did not speak to reporters after the game.

Notre Dame’s 84 points are the most Pitt has allowed this season, drawing remarks from Capel that almost sounded envious.

“They were terrific. They came out ready to play, sense of urgency,” he said.

Of his own team, he said, “We have a lot of work to do. I’m excited about getting back to work.”

Monday’s practice should be interesting.

Get the latest news about Pitt basketball and all things Panthers athletics.