Pitt defeats Jacksonville for 2nd win in row, wraps nonconference schedule

When Pitt players get together with their coaches in the days after a game, they invariably turn on the video machine and live it again.

Doesn’t matter how much it hurts.

Sophomore point guard Femi Odukale took his misery to new heights after he missed 11 of 12 shots and committed five turnovers in the victory against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.

He watched the game three times. Every dribble, every errant shot.

He didn’t like what he saw, but he filed away his mistakes, did his best to reverse them and ended up scoring 28 points Tuesday in Pitt’s 64-55 victory against Jacksonville at Petersen Events Center. It matched his career high, first set last season against Miami.

“Sometimes, I play with a little too much energy, and I turn over the ball and do careless stuff,” Odukale said after the Jacksonville victory. “Re-watching shows me what I can take advantage of when the defense is playing me.”

Coach Jeff Capel didn’t know the extent of Odukale’s self-scouting efforts — to his credit, Odukale didn’t crow about it to his coach — but he wasn’t completely surprised.

“Good players have pride,” Capel said. “You want to go back and see.

“Femi knows we have a lot of confidence in him. Sometimes, you just don’t make shots. Good players have convenient amnesia. You forget about it, and you don’t let it affect you. I’m glad he didn’t allow it to affect him (Tuesday).”

As a result, Odukale led Pitt (5-7) to its second two-game winning streak of the season and its third victory in the past four games. Perhaps more important, Jacksonville (7-4) is the fifth opponent in the past six games to fail to score more than 57 points against Pitt.

Pitt opened up an 18-8 lead early in the game, a surge Capel labeled “fool’s gold.”

“We didn’t have the energy that I thought we would have and we need to have, really, for about the first 24 minutes of the game,” he said.

So, at the next timeout, he emphasized what was needed and Pitt turned a close game into a 15-point lead with a 12-0 run.

The trigger might have been Mouhamadou Gueye’s two dunks within 66 seconds of each other and his reaction after it.

“These guys know I’m a quiet guy,” said Gueye, who finished with 15 points. “So, when they see me react after plays and give a little scream and flex, that energizes the team. We needed that in the second half to really get going.”

Capel understands his team must — in his words — “win ugly.” That includes defending, playing smart, forcing turnovers and being careful with the basketball and rebounding. Pitt had been averaging more than 15 turnovers a game, but Tuesday it forced 12 and committed only six.

Without guards Nike Sibande (knee injury) and Ithiel Horton (suspension), Pitt won’t win many games with its shooting ability. The Panthers still missed 62.3% of the shots (33 of 53) they attempted against Jacksonville.

But Gueye and Odukale hit 15 of their 23 shots. And Gueye took his game to another level with 12 rebounds (his first double-double at Pitt), four assists and four blocks. Jamarius Burton added 12 points and John Hugley eight. Odukale, Gueye, Burton and Hugley accounted for all but one of Pitt’s 64 points.

Gueye, who is from Staten Island, N.Y., said the concept of winning ugly fits with the city.

“That’s kind of the identity of Pittsburgh: brick by brick, working hard,” he said. “We know we have shortages on offense, with Nike being out and (Horton). So, we have to find another way to get these wins and we realize it’s going to start on the defensive end, playing really gritty, making hustle plays and using our energy.”

Capel said that’s the only way Pitt can win this season.

“There’s nothing that’s pretty about us,” he said. “This is who we are, and I think they’ve accepted it. There’s no other choice.”