Pitt changes directions after Boston College postponement, heads south to meet Wake Forest

It’s a good guess — a guarantee, actually — that coach Jeff Capel didn’t spend much time celebrating Pitt’s victory against Duke.

Perhaps a brief text exchange with coach Mike Krzyzewski and then off to his office or home to watch Boston College video (the team Capel thought was next on Pitt’s schedule).

The next day, hopefully before he could dive too deeply into the Boston College roster, the ACC stepped in, postponed Pitt at BC and replaced it with Pitt at Wake Forest. Both Boston College games were postponed this week because of covid-19 complications inside its program.

It’s only a minor disruption for Pitt (8-2, 4-1), which takes a three-game winning streak into Winston-Salem, N.C. Here are five thoughts before the 6 p.m. tip. A victory would match Pitt’s best start to an ACC season, which it joined in 2013-14:

1. Danger lurks

Capel probably didn’t count how many games Wake Forest (3-6, 0-6) has lost in a row (it’s six).

He is more concerned with how and why Virginia Tech/Wake Forest was a two-point game in the final minute last Sunday before the No. 16 Hokies escaped with a 64-60 victory.

And he’ll preach regularly before and during the game about Wake Forest’s trio of 3-point marksmen, Ismael Massoud, Jonah Antonio and Jalen Johnson, who are each shooting at least 36.4% from long range.

This game will mark two in a row where Pitt must contend with Jalen Johnson. This one is a grad transfer from Tennessee, a good player but not on the level of Duke’s NBA-bound freshman Jalen Johnson, who scored 24 points against the Panthers on Tuesday.

2. ‘X’ marks his spot

Pitt’s Xavier Johnson has increased his scoring average from 11.7 points last year to 14.5, but he already has more assists (an ACC-leading 61) than he had in 33 games in 2019-20.

“I really don’t care about scoring this year,” he said. “The main thing is for us to win.”

“Most point guards just want to score the ball, make every play and be the hero. That’s not what I am anymore. I’ve grown past that. I want my teammates to succeed as well.”

He also appreciates the trust Capel has placed in him to handle the basketball, lead the fast break and find the open man. Even when he’s not perfect.

“He trusted me and I trust him as my coach. Love him to death,” he said.

3. Don’t forget Coulibaly

Johnson is averaging 4.3 rebounds, but he soon could be passed by 6-foot-8 sophomore Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, who looks like the second-best member (behind Justin Champagnie) of Pitt’s four-man 2019 recruiting class.

Coulibaly has started nine of 10 games and is averaging 4.1 rebounds in less than 20 minutes of court time. He also leads the team in shooting percentage (54.5, 18 of 33).

Coulibaly performs two other functions that seem trivial, but are essential in Capel’s system: talking and running.

Capel insists his players talk to each other on the floor so everyone is pointing in the same direction. Running to the right spot on the floor is such a simple thing, but Capel said if it doesn’t lead to a basket for Coulibaly, it helps someone else score.

Speaking on 93.7 FM this week, Capel also pointed to Coulibaly’s defense.

“Two of his fouls came on, I thought, plays that could have been charges. They were blocks.

“But the fact that he even tried to take a charge is a big deal for us because that’s something we’ve been trying to work with him to do that. We’re different when he’s not on the floor for us.”

4. It doesn’t happen by accident

With more than a month left in the season, Justin Champagnie leads the ACC in scoring (20.25 points per game) and rebounding (13).

In fact, he is the only ACC player averaging double-digit rebounds.

How did that happen? Staying after practice doesn’t hurt.

“Sometimes, you can go hard at practice, and if a coach says, ‘Let’s get some work in afterwards,’ you can see that as punishment,” Capel said. “Justin is at a point now where he’s asking us to do extra stuff. That’s a big part of his success.”

5. Moving up the ladder

No matter how the remainder of the season unfolds, it’s a safe to assume Pitt will break its three-year streak of finishing last or tied for last in the ACC.

Pitt is tied with Florida State for third place in the 15-team ACC, within striking distance of Virginia (5-0) and Virginia Tech (5-1). The Hokies show up on Pitt’s schedule Feb. 3.

For the moment, moving up the Wake Forest game keeps Pitt off the Super Bowl Sunday menu of sporting events. It was originally scheduled for Feb. 7.

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