Pitt's Au'Diese Toney, Karim Coulibaly built confidence after strong finish to last season

There was nothing remarkable about the final six weeks of the 2019-20 Pitt basketball season.

The Panthers lost 10 of 13 games to finish with the program’s fourth consecutive losing record (16-17, 6-10 ACC).

Yet, anyone watching closely — and Jeff Capel was surely one — could see signs of progress in certain pockets of the team.

Au’Diese Toney averaged 12.4 points over the final 13 games, nearly three points above his overall season average.

Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, a native of Mali thrust into the world of big-time college basketball as a freshman, finally found his niche. He averaged nearly five points and three rebounds per game while shooting 50% from the field (16 of 32) over the final eight.

Although it’s too early for a definitive determination — Pitt (1-1) will play only its third game of the season Saturday against Northern Illinois (0-2) at Petersen Events Center — Toney and Coulibaly have carried their previous success into the new season.

Toney, a junior who’s been with Capel since the beginning of his time at Pitt, scored 20 points in each of the first two games against St. Francis (Pa.) and Drexel. He leads the ACC in field goal percentage (15 of 22, 68.2%), and has missed only two of 13 attempts inside the 3-point arc.

“He got off to a slow start last year,” Capel said, “but he kept pushing, kept working.”

After a summer of focus on certain skills, Toney improved his ball-handling, decision-making and shooting, Capel said.

The result: “He’s been the most consistent guy in the practices and workouts (this season).”

Coulibay, a sophomore, made his first career start against Drexel and filled up the stat sheet with a little of everything: Four points, three blocks, three rebounds, two steals, one assist and no turnovers in 29 minutes.

“The success he had toward the end of last year has helped him confidence-wise,” Capel said.

But Capel said he also went to school himself on how to coach the 6-foot-8 forward.

“Me, understanding how to help him a little bit more. Us, as a coaching staff understanding him as a player.

“He’s a guy who does some things in games that don’t necessarily show up in practice.”

Meanwhile, Capel will be seeking increased production from two other talented starters, guards Xavier Johnson and Ithiel Horton.

Like Toney, Johnson has been with Capel from the beginning, but his production fell off last season from what his coach called a “historic” freshman season in 2018-19.

Johnson set a Pitt freshman record by averaging 15.5 points per game, scoring in double digits in his first 18 games.

Last season was good — he averaged 11.7 points — but he made no noticeable improvement.

Then, he opened this season by shooting 2 of 9 and scoring only nine points in an 80-70 loss to St. Francis.

Capel’s message was simple: Play better and slow down.

“Some of the mistakes made were made because he was just going too fast. He was pressing (trying to help Pitt erase a deficit),” Capel said.

“In the second game, he did a much better job of allowing the game to come to him, picking his spots and playing with confidence. When he does that for us, we’re a different team.”

Johnson led Pitt with 27 points against Drexel.

“He had a historic freshman year. He came back and there were a lot of expectations on him,” the coach said. “Probably for the first time he dealt with expectations at that level. I thought the pressure and expectations got to him a little bit last year.

“He’s learned from that and he’s been able to come back and be that same hungry guy that he was when he first got here.

“With all the experiences that he’s had, the success, the not playing well, the great things written and said about you to the not great things written and said about you, I think he’s learned how to deal and handle it all.”

Horton, a transfer from Delaware, came into his first active season at Pitt with the reputation as a scoring threat. He’s scored five points in each game.

Capel said Horton was pressing, describing him as “a guy who’s nervous, a guy who really, really wants to do well.”

“If it doesn’t go well for him right away, he’s panicked and we panicked. I think that’s what happened in our first game,” Capel said.

“Ithiel is a good player. We just need him relax and be a good player, take open shots, be ready to shoot open shots.

“And he has to do a better job of valuing the basketball and making better decisions with the ball.”

Get the latest news about Pitt basketball and all things Panthers athletics.