Pitt hits 20-win mark with victory over Florida State

There were four distinct storylines that explained Pitt’s 88-73 victory Tuesday night against Florida State, what the game meant to the program and what coach Jeff Capel and his players are trying to accomplish in the latter stages of the season.

• First, Blake Hinson wrote his name into the Pitt record book by hitting six 3-pointers, giving him a school single-season record of 104 – two more than Ashton Gibbs’ previous standard set in 2011. He finished with 27 points, and hit several clutch 3-pointers in the second half when Florida State was briefly rallying from an 18-point deficit.

“He made big play after big play,” Capel said.

“Read and react,” Hinson said. “The ball comes to me. The rim’s there and I shoot it.”

• Jaland Lowe, the freshman point guard, had the basketball in his hands like it was tethered to him. He scored 17 points, handed out 10 assists and committed only two turnovers in 35 minutes. In the past two games, his numbers are 29/19/4 while he played 74 of the 80 minutes.

• Now, onto the big picture.

Pitt (20-10, 11-8 ACC) reached the 20-victory milestone in consecutive seasons for the first time in a decade, with an overall record of 44-22.

What does that mean to Capel? The question caused Capel to think about his six seasons at Pitt and how those around him showed patience during the dark days of the first four.

“To me, that’s a testament to Heather (Lyke, athletic director), to (former) Chancellor (Patrick) Gallagher and now our new chancellor (Joan Gabel) and the Board of Trustees, our staff and the guys we’ve been able to recruit,” Capel said.

“We’ve taken a lot of lumps, but we continued to show up. It would have been very easy for all the people that I mentioned to walk away or to give in to it. I’ve had unbelievable support and I’m grateful.

“First time in a decade that’s pretty cool, but I want more.”

• Speaking of more, Pitt still has plenty of work to do in its quest to reach the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, also an achievement that has eluded the program since 2012-13/2013-14.

“We’re playing well,” Capel said. “The thing I’ve tried to do is not look in the rear-view mirror that much. I would say since we went to Duke (on Jan. 20), I think we‘ve played pretty well since then.”

Pitt has won 10 of its past 13 games, but probably needs to defeat N.C. State on Saturday night in the final regular-season game at the Pete, plus win two or three more in the ACC Tournament next week, to really impress the NCAA Tournament Committee.

In the most recent ESPN Bracketology, Pitt is listed as one of the “next four out.” Five teams are ahead of the Panthers, but losses by Syracuse and Wake Forest on Tuesday night allowed Pitt to move into a tie with Clemson for fourth place in the ACC. The top four teams at the end of the regular season get a double bye in the conference tournament.

There’s plenty of important basketball scheduled over the next week, and Capel advised Lowe and Hinson “to get some rest, it’s almost midnight” while they were leaving the postgame news conference.

But Capel was pleased with how his team fought off fatigue against Florida State (15-15, 9-10) in the second half. It was the first time in three weeks that Pitt won a game on Tuesday after having played the previous Saturday.

“When we went up 18, our defense wasn’t good like it was the first 25 minutes,” Capel said. “I thought we got a little bit tired. Fortunately, we were able to keep scoring.”

Much of the credit goes to guards Lowe and Bub Carrington, two freshmen who are learning to handle the pressures of big-time college basketball. Carrington contributed 12 points, six rebounds and four assists to the victory.

“It’s very unique,” Capel said of how well Lowe has been playing since he was inserted in the starting lineup Jan. 6. “But it’s a testament to Jaland and how much he’s grown. The confidence that he has, the belief that we have in him. He knows that. He feels that.

“Same thing with Bub. Those two guys have been really good and we’re going to need them to continue to be really good.”