William Jeffress hit a big shot late in the game that kept heat on Towson and, eventually, led to Pitt’s 63-59 victory Friday night at Petersen Events Center.

That was on the court.

Off the court, while discussing Pitt’s second consecutive victory with reporters, he was a bit defiant. But in a calm, matter-of-fact fashion.

“A lot of people are counting us out right now,” said Jeffress, a sophomore from Erie. “So we’re trying just to prove everybody wrong.”

In his next breath, however, he quickly amended his statement.

“At the end of the day, not really trying to prove everybody else wrong, but prove ourselves right,” he said. “No matter what you say or what you do or what happens to this team, we know we have enough to win inside of our locker room.

“We trust our players. We trust our coaches. Every day, we’re going to go out there and fight.”

The reconstruction of Pitt basketball has a long way to go for Jeffress’ words to prove prophetic. At least for one night, however, the Panthers (2-2) showed they could win a close game.

Can it continue? Coach Jeff Capel will worry about that when he reconvenes his team for practice this weekend and as the nonconference season progresses. But he was justifiably proud of his team Friday.

“Big win for us to be able to scratch and claw and make some plays down the stretch,” he said after Pitt rallied from a seven-point deficit. “I thought our defense and energy from the 16-minute mark (of the second half) on was outstanding.

“We were so connected down the stretch, offensively, defensively, the huddles were really good, the way they were talking to each other. They were excited for each other.”

The Panthers played most of the second half without leading scorers John Hugley and Femi Odukale. Capel said neither was playing well, and that’s why they were sitting.

“The team’s not about one guy. It’s about everyone,” Capel said. “If one guy doesn’t play, that probably means somebody else is playing pretty well.”

He mentioned that Odukale’s body language was not good.

“It’s not our standard. We’re not deviating from that, no matter who it is,” he said.

But he did call on Odukale with five minutes left in the game, and the sophomore point guard responded.

He hit a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 23 seconds left to break a 55-55 tie that was created by Jeffress’ basket. After that, Odukale contributed a big foul shot and a block to help secure the victory.

But the real difference-makers were freshman Nate Santos, transfers Jamarius Burton and Dan Oladapo and sophomore Noah Collier.

Santos, who played more than 37 minutes, led Pitt with 14 points, including four 3-pointers and two crucial foul shots with 27 seconds left that boosted a two-point lead to four.

The foul shots were created when Burton, trapped along the sideline next to the Pitt bench, slithered out of trouble and found Santos with a pass.

“He’s strong in those situations,” Capel said of Burton. “I knew he would be able to make the proper play. He knew Nate was open.”

Playing in only his second game after suffering a knee injury last month, Burton added two big foul shots of his own to set the final margin. He ended up with 11 points.

Oladapo and Collier added 11 and seven points, with each hitting every shot they tried. Oladapo was 4 for 4; Collier 3 for 3.

“Collier was tremendous,” Capel said. “He was ready for the moment. He played above the rim. He played with energy. He played with force.”

Capel said he had a talk with Collier on Wednesday after his play in practice had been strong early, but suddenly declined.

“I told him, ‘This is what you were doing early and this is what we need.’ ”

Santos’ long-range shooting was something Pitt had been missing this season. His four 3-pointers were just two fewer than the entire team managed in the first three games. But he also added eight rebounds.

The victory made Towson coach Pat Skerry a two-time loser at The Pete after he had served as an assistant for Jamie Dixon when Pitt won the Big East regular-season championship in 2010-2011.

“Hail to Pitt,” he said at the outset of his postgame remarks.

“I don’t know if I want to come back again. We’ve had a couple crushing losses.” (Pitt defeated Towson, 63-59, in 2017.)

“They are really physical, long, athletic, well-coached,” he said of the current Panthers. “It’s a long year. We’re all just trying to get better at this point and find out a lot about ourselves.”

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