Pitt's Jeff Capel calls Duke `the premier program in all of college athletics'

Jeff Capel said his team will take an important step in its rebuilding season Tuesday when it meets No. 2 Duke at Petersen Events Center.

Duke is the gold standard of college basketball, according to Capel.

“As you are trying to build a program, you want to play against the best,” Pitt’s coach said. “We’re playing against the premier program in all of college athletics.”

Capel, who played and coached at Duke and has known coach Mike Krzyzewski since he was 16, has led Pitt to a 12-6 record in his first season, 2-3 in the ACC.

Duke had been No. 1 in the Associated Press poll until Monday when the Blue Devils, who lost to Syracuse last week, dropped to No. 2 behind Tennessee.

Historically, if not recently, Pitt has done well against opponents ranked in the top 5 of the Associated Press poll. The Panthers are 9-2 all-time at the Pete against those teams, but have lost the past two to No. 1 Syracuse in 2014 and No. 1 Virginia last year.

But Pitt is 3-9 against No. 2 teams, including 1-4 at home.

Pitt may face Duke (15-2, 4-1) without the Blue Devils’ freshman point guard Tre Jones, who missed the 72-70 victory against Virginia last Saturday with a shoulder injury. Jones is averaging 5.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

“He’s not going to play unless something miraculous happens,” Krzyzewski said.

Capel, however, said Kyzyzewski is at his best when replacing an important player.

“I told our staff if Tre is not available to play (against Virginia), I think Duke will still win,” Capel said.

“It’s moments like that when coach is at his best, an injury to a key guy and he has some time to prepare. The way he is able to rally everyone around them. It’s not like anything I have ever seen.”

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.