Pitt runs away from Notre Dame, wins 4th game in past 5

Pitt’s 70-60 victory Saturday night against Notre Dame at Petersen Events Center continued Pitt’s slow ascent toward respectability and a .500 record in the ACC.

To be sure, Pitt put enough on display to defeat Notre Dame, a team trying to find itself amidst a 7-15 record (2-9 in the ACC). In the end, the crowd of 10,864 and honored guests from Pitt’s Elite Eight teams of 1973-1974 and 2008-2009 were treated to Pitt’s fourth victory in its past five games.

But coach Jeff Capel and his players believe they can play much better. The future, of course, will prove or disprove that belief over the next nine regular-season games.

“We got more to give, for sure,” said Blake Hinson, who scored 17 points. “The way I feel we should have had (won) five (in a row). We made a great comeback effort (in loss to Miami on Jan. 27).

“We’re hitting our stride, for sure, but it’s not our best.”

“I think we’re playing well,” Capel said. “It’s great to be able to win back-to-back games at home.”

But he said there’s much to work on this week — “Everything” is how he termed it — while preparing to confront N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C., on Wednesday. Falling behind early to the Irish – Pitt was down, 19-12, with five minutes left in the first half — certainly didn’t please Capel.

“To start the game, we did not do a good job of containing penetration,” he said. “That was just strictly understanding personnel. I thought we did a better job once we got to a timeout.

“We need to get off to better starts. We have to be able to make shots right away. We didn’t get some (rebounds) clean where we were able to get out in transition. I think we have large room to get better.”

Neither team was able to gain clear control of the proceedings until early in the second half. At that point, with the scored tied, 30-30, Zack Austin, Hinson and Bub Carrington hit back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers in a span of 1 ½ minutes, triggering a 19-4 run for the Panthers.

Ishmael Leggett followed with a putback of a missed shot and two foul shots before Jaland Lowe and Guillermo Diaz Graham hit two more 3-pointers, Pitt’s eighth and ninth from beyond the arc.

That scoring burst gave the Panthers a 49-34 lead with 11:40 to play, and Notre Dame was all but defeated. Boosted by 10 3-pointers in 25 attempts, Pitt led by 17 with less than three minutes to play.

It also was encouraging that Pitt scored 42 points after halftime, shooting 52.2% (12 of 23). Pitt scored 50 in the second half Wednesday in the victory against Wake Forest. Both efforts are indicators that coaches have been saying the right things at halftime.

Leggett didn’t start the game, but he entered before four minutes had elapsed, played a total of more than 32 minutes and scored 12 points. Carrington added 16 and Lowe 11.

Carrington has scored at least 16 in three of the past four games and bumped his season-long average in his freshman season to 13.7.

“He’s a good player. I expect it,” said Capel, noting that Carrington has a better understanding of what it takes to play well in the ACC.

“We’re in February now. You’re not freshmen. You have a lot of experience now. You’ve been in moments. You’ve been in high-pressure situations. I trust his ability and expect him to perform at a high level.”

While the victory only pushed Pitt’s record 14-8 (5-6 in the ACC), it was the 300th in the Panthers’ 22 seasons at the Pete.

That mattered to Capel, who is in his sixth season as Pitt’s coach.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “I’m grateful for the little bit I had to do with it. There were a lot more (victories) before I got here, with (coaches) Ben (Howland) and with Jamie (Dixon). This is a very proud program and it’s a really, really good program. I’m honored to be the caretaker of it.”

His other takeaway from the game — in fact, the first subject he mentioned in his postgame news conference — was how he said the team and its fans are starting to feed off each other.

“Anytime you have a great crowd you can feed off the energy. You have to give them energy, too,” he said.

“Earlier in January, I don’t think we did a good job of that. The (Oakland) Zoo still continued to show up. I’m really, really grateful for that.”