Pitt rallies late but falls to Vanderbilt, ending 5-game winning streak

Jeff Capel liked the way his team shot the basketball Wednesday night, and he was pleased with its fight in what appeared to be a lost cause.

But something else hurt him like a punch in the gut, and that was the real reason Pitt (6-4) lost to Vanderbilt, 75-74, in Nashville, Tenn.

“They made more hustle plays than us,” Pitt’s coach said. “I hate saying that, but that’s the truth.”

The record will show that the game was decided when Vanderbilt’s Tyrin Lawrence hit two foul shots with one second left – his only attempts from the line all night – to negate a determined Pitt rally.

But, in Capel’s mind, the game turned in Vanderbilt’s favor in the first half when Pitt committed 11 turnovers and allowed the Commodores to grab 11 offensive rebounds. Pitt shot an impressive 50% in the first 20 minutes (10 of 20), but had to settle for a 34-34 tie at intermission.

“We were lucky we were tied at halftime,” Capel said, “even with the way we shot the basketball.”

Those two lapses – plus less than 70% foul shooting (14 of 21) — helped put an end to Pitt’s five-game winning streak.

“They just absolutely destroyed us on the boards,” Capel said of the Commodores overall 39-31 advantage.

For the game, Vanderbilt (5-4) held a remarkable 70-50 edge in shot attempts and used it to score 15 second-chance points. For much of the game, the Commodores were the aggressors, scoring 15 points off turnovers.

“They really got after the basketball, picked up and pressured and were incredibly physical,” Capel said. “That knocked us off.”

Yet, the game was tight for almost the entire 40 minutes, thanks to Pitt hitting 12 of 25 3-point attempts. Even Vanderbilt’s 68-60 lead with three minutes, 37 seconds left wasn’t safe.

In the next three minutes-plus, Pitt rallied to take a 74-73 on a 17-foot jumper by Nelly Cummings with 14 seconds left.

Cummings started the blitz with a 3-point play, followed by three of Greg Elliott’s seven 3-pointers in a span of 68 seconds. He also made a steal with a little more than a minute left that led to the last of his 3-pointers.

“We made some big-time plays, passes, finishes,” Capel said. “We really fought and changed our body language. Defense picked up during that time. We put ourselves in a position to win.”

But the Panthers left too much time on the clock, and Elliott – of all people – committed the foul that sent Lawrence to the foul line.

“It was either a layup or they earn two at the line,” he said.

Said Capel: “We did some good things in this game. We finally were tough during that last 3:44, except for that last play.”

Elliott led Pitt with 20 points, followed by Cummings (18), Blake Hinson (14) and Jamarius Burton (10).

“The ball found me,” Elliott said. “My teammates found me. I made my open shots.”

Meanwhile, center John Hugley recorded eight points and no rebounds in 23 minutes.

“He’s got to play better, period,” Capel said.

Burton, a guard, led the Panthers with eight rebounds while Federiko Federiko came off the bench to score four points with five rebounds in 17 minutes. Capel used only two other reserves, Nike Sibande and Nate Santos, and neither player scored.

In the end, Capel said his team did not regress from its solid play over much of the early part of the season.

“We played a good team on their home court, Power 5 team that has talent,” he said.

Cummings said there was a lesson to be learned from Pitt’s first loss since Nov. 17.

“We can learn that the fight we had in the last four minutes, we have to maintain for 40 minutes,” he said. “That’s who we are. We just have to be who we are for 40 minutes. We tend to get away from who we are.

“We’re not going to slump our heads or our shoulders. We’re going to get back to work and keep pushing.”

The team hopes to put those lessons to use Saturday when it plays Sacred Heart at Petersen Events Center in its first home game since Nov. 25.