Pitt needs to start stacking victories leading up to the postseason

Since Pitt’s victory against Georgia Tech on Saturday, there has been talk about what the Panthers needs to do to reach the NCAA Tournament.

That’s a sign of progress for what Jeff Capel is building or excessively optimistic thinking.

Pitt hasn’t been to the tournament since the 2015-16 season, Jamie Dixon’s last. In the three ensuing seasons, the Panthers won a total of seven ACC games.

With a victory against Clemson on Wednesday night at Petersen Events Center, Pitt (15-9, 6-7) can match that total, with six more to play in the regular season.

That is progress.

But earning a tournament berth probably will require five victories in the final seven ACC games, plus two more in the conference tournament. That’s a lot to ask.

Since Pitt joined the ACC for the 2013-14 season, the conference has placed at least six teams in every tournament. But the ACC is struggling this season, and only No. 6 Duke, No. 7 Louisville and No. 15 Florida State are in the top 50 of the NCAAnet rankings. Maybe the committee will draw the line at five. Pitt checks in at 78th overall, eighth in the ACC.

Time to start stacking victories.

Here’s what to look for against Clemson:

1. Time for a nap?

The game tips off at 9 p.m., the fifth such start time this season for the Panthers. Capel doesn’t like it, calling 9 o’clock starts “the worst” during an appearance Monday on 93.7 FM.

“I’m not a big fan of 9 p.m. games, especially during a weekday,” he said. “I understand why you have to have them for TV. I get that, and I’m grateful that we can be on TV.

“But for a quote-unquote student-athlete, especially when you’re on the road, to have a game at 9 and travel back and you expect them to be in class the next day, especially, if you have an early class, that’s really, really difficult.”

Capel also said the extra hours of inactivity while trying to conserve energy could make players “more tired and more lethargic.”

But unless a player gets caught in the middle of a yawn while shooting a foul shot, the late start shouldn’t have a significant effect on either team.

2. Guard the 3-point line

Clemson loves to shoot the 3 and has already tried 606 of them (third in the conference). In Clemson’s loss to Notre Dame on Sunday, 34 of the Tigers’ 56 field-goal attempts were from outside the arc. Clemson made only nine and is shooting 30.9% for the season, 10th in the conference.

Pitt has tried only 432, 12th in the conference, while making 30.3%. Capel said Miami’s coaches recently were yelling at their defenders to “back up, let them shoot.”

Ryan Murphy’s return from a concussion would be welcome. He leads Pitt with 110 attempted 3s and a 35.5% success rate, even while missing the past three games.

Give Capel and his medical people credit for not rushing Murphy back.

3. Freshman focus

Justin Champagnie was named the CBS Sports/U.S. Basketball Writers Association Freshman of the Week after averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.

His presence has taken much of the scoring load and pressure off sophomore guards Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens.

Champagnie is second among starters with 146 attempts in 13 ACC games while shooting 42.5%. He leads the team in scoring in conference games (13.0).

“Just having Justin playing well takes lot of stress off us,” McGowens said, “where we can just pass and not force things.”

4. Who needs Twitter?

Another big boost for McGowens and Johnson has been their recent decision to stay off social media.

“I know last year and this year, we like to look at what people are saying about us, and a lot of it was negative,” McGowens said. “I feel like that kind of affected us a lot. That might have put us more in a slump than we put ourselves into, seeing a lot of negative things, feeling like we have to do better. When coach talked to us about losing yourself and getting off everything, that has really helped a lot. Now, we’re just playing.”

5. Looking ahead

After the Clemson game, Pitt plays four of its final six regular-season games away from the Pete.

Pitt is 1-5 on the road in the conference. That probably gives Wednesday’s home game another layer of importance.