Au'Diese Toney out with injury as Pitt falls to No. 16 Florida State

There is no column in the ACC standings marked M for moral victories.

Jeff Capel made that clear after Pitt’s 79-72 loss to Florida State on Saturday at Petersen Events Center.

“We want to win the basketball game,” he said, “and I thought we had a chance. We did some good things. Obviously, it’s not good enough.”

There’s no consolation prize for staying close to one of the nation’s best teams, even without junior Au’Diese Toney, Pitt’s best defender and second-leading scorer, rebounder and assist maker. Toney missed the game with an undisclosed injury, and Capel said later he isn’t sure of its extent.

“It’s a big loss for us,” Capel said. “He’s played well against Florida State (15 points in a loss last season), but guys stepped up and played well, gave us a chance to win.”

In Toney’s place, Nike Sibande made his third start of the season and scored 12 points, with seven rebounds, in his season-high 36 minutes.

In the end, however, Pitt’s third consecutive late-season slump continues. It’s now seven losses in the past eight games.

Is it a victory of sorts that Virginia lost to Florida State by 21 and Pitt (9-9, 5-8 ACC) never trailed by more than 11 and was within four points with 53 seconds to play before the Seminoles (13-3 9-2) quelled the rally with free throws?

“No moral victories for us,” Capel said.

But Florida State — ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press poll and surely destined to rise when votes are counted Monday — looks like a team that can play deep into March.

“They come at you in waves,” said Capel of the Seminoles, who got points from nine players, shot 44.8% (26 of 58) from the field and hit 23 of 29 free throws.

Four of Florida State’s top five scorers in the game are 6-foot-8 or taller. Pitt could only punch back in terms of size with 6-10 senior Terrell Brown, who recorded three rebounds and one point in 12 minutes.

The Seminoles were led by 6-8, 260-pound Raiquan Gray, who had 16 points and eight rebounds. Malik Osborne, 6-9, had 12 and nine. Freshman Scottie Barnes, 6-9, had 11 and six.

“It’s rough,” said Pitt’s Justin Champagnie, who recorded his ACC-high 11th double/double and seventh 20/10 game (21 points, 10 rebounds). “You can’t prepare for a team at that size.”

Capel also was impressed.

“They wore us down. That’s what they do,” he said. “They have these big, huge, athletic guys that they just keep sending in. Their style of play, the way they pressure the basketball, constantly take passes away, very, very physical.

“I thought they were primed last year to make a run (in the NCAA Tournament), and I think they felt that way, too. With the talent they have, the depth, the size, they play with a sense of urgency. They play together.”

So, when evaluate Pitt’s performance — Capel said his players “fought for 40 minutes” — consideration must be shown to the clear notion that Florida State is bigger, stronger and deeper than Pitt, which is still trying to dig out from the rubble of the 0-19 ACC season three years ago.

“The game came down to our inability at times to finish,” he said.

Capel said he counted eight times — five in the first half, three in the second — when Pitt had shots “right there at the basket.”

“You make half of those, that’s eight points. Maybe the outcome’s a little bit different.”

Capel said Pitt improved on defense, even though its streak of allowing 71 or more points reached 10 games in a row.

“We had a stretch there where our first-shot defense wasn’t bad,” Capel said, “but we didn’t rebound. They would shoot. We would contest. It was almost like we stood there like statues, and they went and got the basketball.”

Champagnie, who played all 40 minutes for the sixth time in his career, said, “It’s never good to lose.”

But he added, “It was pretty good in the locker room. Nobody was upset. Nobody was too down on themselves.”

The existing schedule says Pitt won’t play again until Feb. 28 at N.C. State, but Capel admitted that could change.

But with injuries to Toney and Femi Odukale (eight points with a calf strain), Pitt might benefit from time off.

Asked if he might try to schedule a nonconference game this week, he didn’t sound enthusiastic about the idea.

“I’m not going to put us in a position to do anything detrimental to our guys,” he said. “It depends on the health of our team.”

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