Pitt hangs on to defeat Duke, 79-73

For Justin Champagnie, Pitt’s 79-73 victory against Duke on Tuesday night was all about gaining respect – for his team and himself.

Playing in a nearly empty Petersen Events Center that would have been rocking under normal circumstances, Pitt survived a Duke rally that three times trimmed a 15-point lead to two in the second half.

Each time, the Panthers (8-2, 4-1 ACC) fought back, never lost the lead and took the form of a team that appears to be tired of getting stepped on and overlooked.

“We’re not given a lot of credit in this league,” Champagnie said, “and we wanted to go out there and show why we deserve the credit that we earned.”

“We were tired. We were fatigued,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “We didn’t do a good job of getting back in transition. They were all over the boards against us, but we were able to sustain our lead.”

Then, there’s the not-so-trivial matter of Champagnie’s duel – at least in his mind – with Duke’s Matthew Hurt.

The two players entered Petersen Events Center as the top scorers in the ACC. And you can be sure Champagnie was aware that Hurt was No. 1 (19.6 points per game) and he was No. 2 (18.7).

Champagnie was “amazing” — Capel’s word – scoring 31 points, with 14 rebounds and five blocks. He is the only Pitt player in at least 36 years to reach those three thresholds. Perfect on all eight of his two-point attempts, he hit four of seven 3-pointers, added two steals and, oddly, missed half of his foul shots (three of six).

Meanwhile, Hurt managed only 13 points while missing eight of 13 attempts, allowing Champagnie to seize the ACC scoring lead (20.3-18.9).

“Before the game, I kept saying to myself, `I don’t think he’s better than me,’ ” Champagnie said, “and I went out there and kind of proved it.”

The victory was Pitt’s first against Duke since 2016 and made Capel the first former Blue Devils player to defeat Mike Krzyzewski as a coach. He also joins Notre Dame’s Mike Brey as the only former Krzyzewski assistants to defeat their ex-boss as a head coach.

“Didn’t know it. Never really thought about it. Didn’t really care about it,” Capel said.

Capel did acknowledge that defeating Duke – even when the Blue Devils (5-4, 3-2) aren’t dominant – is a noteworthy accomplishment.

But Capel played there a quarter-century ago. He has so much more work to do in rebuilding Pitt’s program that only today matters.

“It’s big for our program. It’s big for our guys,” he said. “Anytime you’re trying to take the next step and you can beat one of the blue bloods, that’s big.”

Champagnie, only a sophomore, understands the magnitude of the victory.

“We said it’s Duke. All calls always go their way,” he said. “We have to fight through all of that. We can’t complain, can’t show up the refs. We have to go through and fight and that’s what we did.”

What’s especially important is how Pitt kept punching back when Duke refused to go away. Hurt and Duke freshman Jalen Johnson, a 6-foot-9 forward projected as a top-10 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, combined for 37 points — 27 in the second half.

Johnson didn’t start after missing the past three games with a foot injury, but he still scored 24 points with 15 rebounds.

“Really proud of our team because we beat them when they are different,” said Capel, who was surprised when Duke scrapped its usual man-to-man defense and played 3-2 and 1-2-2 zone most of the game.

“It was kind of awkward,” Champagnie admitted.

But surviving Johnson’s athleticism and size was the bigger victory inside a victory. “They are a very different team when he plays like he played today,” Capel said.

In the end, the game came down to a handful of key plays in the final 2:03.

After Jordan Goldwire’s layup cut Pitt’s lead to 75-73 with 2:03 left, Xavier Johnson responded with a basket of his own and then fed Au’Diese Toney for a dunk to set the final score. Johnson barely missed a double/double with nine points and 11 assists.

At that point, it didn’t even matter that Champagnie and Femi Odukale missed four foul shots in the final 15 seconds.

Toney was also “amazing” – again, a Capel description – with 22 points and 11 rebounds. He cramped up at the end of the game after he and Champagnie played 39 of the game’s 40 minutes.

“In order to beat that team,” Capel said, “you have to fight for 40 minutes.”

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