Pitt Take 5: Panthers drag 4-game losing streak into ACC Tournament

Perhaps Jeff Capel’s most difficult task this season will surface Tuesday afternoon in Brooklyn, N.Y., when Pitt opens the 2022 ACC Tournament against Boston College. Tipoff is 2 p.m. on the ACC Network.

Pitt’s coach must find a way extract a few more determined efforts from his players, who are approaching the end of a miserable season. Pitt takes a four-game losing streak into the tournament — a stretch in which the Panthers allowed a distressing average of more than 79 points per game – but Capel hopes his players’ competitiveness overwhelms their frustration.

“My hope is we don’t have anyone thinking (there are only a few games left in the season),” Capel said. “As a competitor, you should always think you can go on a run.”

Meanwhile, here are a few thoughts to ponder:

1. Some history

Launched in 1954, the tournament will be contested in Barclays Center for the third time in Pitt’s nine seasons, and it’s a credit to conference officials that they have decided to move their marquee event throughout the ACC footprint.

A total of 54 of the previous 67 tournaments, including the first 22, were held within the confines of North Carolina, but this will be third event in Brooklyn in the past six years. It also has been staged in Landover, Md. (when Maryland was a member), Atlanta, Tampa, Fla., and Washington D.C. The 2020 event in Greensboro, N.C., was cut short by the covid-19 pandemic, but not before Pitt defeated Wake Forest and lost to N.C. State.

From 1958-1983, a school from one of the Carolinas won all but two of the tournaments, but Duke or North Carolina have won only three of the past nine.

Defending champion Georgia Tech is seeded 14th of 15 teams this year. Pitt (11-20, 6-14) is the No. 12 seed while Boston College (11-19, 6-14) is No. 13. In eight tournaments, Pitt never has won more than one game.

2. Looking to recover

The most intriguing aspect of the Pitt/BC matchup will be discovering which team is able to recover from its current misery. The Eagles have lost eight of 10; Pitt seven of 10.

“Everyone in the locker room knows we have to hit the reset button,” said sophomore center John Hugley, who earned honorable mention All-ACC while finishing third in rebound average (7.9) and leading the Panthers in scoring (14.7).

“Like coach said, nothing that happened in the regular season matters anymore. This is a brand, new season. I feel like our identity on defense is going to pick back up.”

3. Horton’s season

The game will be the 32nd for Pitt, but only the 13th for junior guard Ithiel Horton, who was suspended for most of the season after a scuffle with police on the South Side.

After felony charges were reduced and he pleaded guilty to lesser charges, he returned to the team and immediately scored 11 points in a loss at Boston College.

He slumped through three games before scoring 25, including seven 3-pointers, in an upset victory at Florida State. But he’s slumping again, totaling only 18 points in the past three games.

“He played at a high level,” Capel said. “He let the game come to him and really shot the basketball well in a very efficient manner.”

Capel was speaking of a stretch during Pitt’s recent three-game winning streak when Horton played nearly every minute (37-plus, 39-plus and 40), shot just under 50% (19 of 39) and averaged 20 points per game.

In the past four, however, he’s shooting 26.1% (11 of 42), including 2 of 14 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“At times, I thought, he’s been pressing a little bit,” Capel said. “He’s been through a lot. After that (successful) stretch, I think he was maybe a little bit fatigued.”

4. Let’s try it 1 more time

Pitt and Boston College met twice this season, swapping home victories in distinctly different games.

Pitt won at Petersen Events Center, 69-67, on Jan. 8, but was a decisive loser, 69-56, at Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Jan. 30. Hugley scored 32 in the victory, nine in the loss.

“They were very physical with him before he caught the basketball (in the second game),” Capel said. “Very, very physical.

“He wasn’t able to catch the ball as easily as he did the first game because of how physical they played him. We need him to be very good for us.”

5. Running a marathon

Conference tournaments are a matter of endurance for those teams fortunate enough to advance.

There are no off days. The Pitt/BC winner plays No. 5 Wake Forest less than 24 hours later and must play five games in five days to win the championship.

“Hopefully, we can go out and execute the things we have to do and play as hard as we possibly can to be able to survive another day,” Capel said. “The exciting part of this time of year is that it is survive and advance.

“Hopefully, we can play with a sense of urgency and have some intelligence and have some purpose in the things that we do.”