Pitt's 1-point victory offers sign of hope for the future

Before Jeff Capel took his team on its first road trip to confront Northwestern, the only Power 5 team on its nonconference schedule, he had some questions.

Among them: How might Pitt’s young team react on the road in a pandemic? These days, every minor detail is different, including the way players eat meals to “the way you get on and off an elevator (in the hotel),” Capel said.

More to the point, basketball-wise, Capel was eager to see how his team would react to adversity. Perhaps he wasn’t hoping for a one-point game — Pitt ended up beating previously unbeaten Northwestern, 71-70, on Wednesday night — but he knows other difficult moments are coming.

Pitt (3-1) came into the game with a 21-68 record against Power 5 teams since former coach Jamie Dixon left in 2016. But Pitt passed this early-season test, grabbing the victory on a Justin Champagnie dunk with five seconds left after trailing for the entire game and by as many as 14 points.

And Xavier Johnson made it happen.

Johnson, the junior point guard who has appeared to gain basketball maturity as he gets older, slipped a pass to Champagnie for the decisive points. The best part was Johnson didn’t try to score himself in traffic and get the shot blocked.

“One of the great things about Xavier is his competitive spirit,” Capel said. “One of the things that hurts him at times is his competitive spirit.

“He really wants to win. He wants us to be good. He wants his teammates to be good. At times, he can think, ‘I have to do it. I have to do it.’

“One of the things we talked about at halftime is, ‘We have to do it.’ There’s not an individual in here that can do this.”

Justin Champagnie of @Pitt_MBB is the fourth major conference player in the last 25 seasons to have 20+ points and 20+ rebounds in a regulation game while playing 40 minutes.

The others?

Tim Duncan (2/22/1997)
Kevin Durant (1/31/2007)
Ben Simmons (11/23/2015)

— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) December 10, 2020

Champagnie didn’t put on a one-man show, but it was impressive nonetheless. He joined Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons as the only Power 5 players in the past 25 years to score 20 points and grab 20 rebounds in 40 minutes. In other words, he scored and dominated the glass while never sitting down.

But the victory only counts one as Pitt prepares for its final nonconference game Saturday against Gardner-Webb at Petersen Events Center and the start of ACC play Wednesday in Miami.

Two years ago, Pitt defeated Louisville in overtime to improve to 11-4. That was Jan. 9, 2019. The Panthers won only three of their remaining 18 games.

Capel, who was in his first season at Pitt in 2019, hopes he won’t have relive that experience in 2021.

He was encouraged that his players kept up the defensive pressure, even while they were shooting 20.5% from the floor (8 of 39) in the first half.

“We’ve had a tendency in the past to let our offensive troubles affect our defense,” he said. “It did not do that (Wednesday).”

Northwestern had scored 53, 51 and 60 points in its previous three halves. Against Pitt, the Wildcats scored 33 before halftime, 37 in the second half.

There also appears to be more depth this season. Freshman William Jeffress came off the bench to construct a seven-four-two-one stat line — points, rebounds, assists and steals — in 33 minutes. Three other freshmen — John Hugley, Femi Odukale and Noah Collier — contributed a total of 24 minutes.

“They all stepped up and really did some positive things for us,” Capel said.

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