You need to scroll back to Nov. 27 — two days after Thanksgiving when the Christmas lights you put away last week weren’t even up yet — to find a Pitt game decided by a double-digit margin.

That was an 87-77 loss to Maryland Baltimore County at the Petersen Events Center. Since then, nine consecutive games have been decided by an average margin of 2.9 points.

Pitt is 4-5 in that span, but opponents are averaging only 61.9 points per game.

With additional stress and intensity triggered by the close calls, perhaps coach Jeff Capel has hit on the appropriate combination of players. He used only seven Saturday in the 69-67 victory against Boston College, and Noah Collier played less than three minutes. Ithiel Horton would make it eight, but he is not actively competing after city police re-filed previously dismissed criminal charges against him. Plus, guard Nike Sibande is lost for the season with a knee injury.

Minutes for Nate Santos and Dan Oladapo, part-time starters earlier this season, and Chris Payton have decreased over the past month. Those three haven’t played since the Jacksonville game Dec. 21.

Asked about his Ironman rotation, Capel made no apologies. “Hey, man, we’re trying to win,” he said. “We’re playing guys trying to win.”

The result is that senior guard Jamarius Burton played all 40 minutes against BC, and thought nothing of it. In fact, in the final 3 minutes, 34 seconds, he hit all six free throws, forced two charging fouls and grabbed a defensive rebound.

“I feel pretty good. I’ve been training for this opportunity,” he said.

John Hugley played 37 minutes while finishing with 32 points, 13 rebounds and hitting 3 of 4 foul shots in the final 61 seconds. Pitt needed his presence in the paint, offensively and defensively.

Hugley, Burton and Femi Odukale scored 57 of Pitt’s 69 points, but William Jeffress added six points (all in the second half while Pitt was building an eight-point cushion). His three field goals tied a personal season high, and marked the first time in six games he made more than one.

Jeffress starts because he’s efficient on defense, but Capel hopes his confidence with the ball in his hands is increasing.

“Will works,” he said. “He’s been doing a lot of stuff after practice, working on driving hard, getting to spots. His moves (Saturday) were with conviction. He’s got to continue to get stronger. He’s got to continue to become a more consistent shooter from 3.”

Capel believes in Jeffress’ work ethic.

“You work at it every day, you take it serious, you invest in it and usually when you do that and you have talent, good things will happen,” the coach said.

Walk-on point guard Onyebuchi Ezeakudo came off the bench to play as many minutes as Jeffress (nearly 27), and he made them count.

Ezeakudo missed his only shot, but he put four rebounds, two assists and a steal on his stat line. He’s averaging two points per game, but eight of his 10 field goals have come from outside the 3-point arc.

“I’m so proud of O,” Hugley said. “He’s a dog. He’s going to leave it out there every game. He’s going to play hard, no matter what. He’s an animal. He’s a pest.”

Pitt’s next opportunity comes up quickly — Tuesday at Syracuse — and Pitt (6-9, 1-3 in the ACC) returns to The Pete on Saturday in a rematch with Louisville.

Capel must monitor his players’ activity in practice and games to keep them fresh over the season’s final two months. But he’s been pleased with recent results, even if victory comes only occasionally.

“There’s a process to becoming a really good player, individually, and becoming a really good team,” he said. “You have to stack good days.

“Hopefully, this is a breakthrough with us.”

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