Take 5: Pitt aims to stack victories, salvage pride against N.C. State

The questions on Pitt fans’ lips are these:

Was the 56-51 victory at Florida State on Wednesday a product of Pitt finally adhering to coach Jeff Capel’s insistence on defensive focus?

Or, was Florida State just that bad?

Whatever the case, it was the lowest offensive output by an ACC opponent in Capel’s four seasons.

Something went right for the Panthers in Tallahassee, Fla. Can they bring it home Saturday? A victory would give Pitt its third two-game winning streak of the season.

Pitt (9-16, 4-10 ACC) gets a chance to salvage some more pride over the next week, with games against teams below them in the ACC standings: N.C. State (10-15, 3-11) on Saturday and Georgia Tech (10-13, 3-9) on Feb. 19. Both games are at Petersen Events Center.

In between, there’s a game at North Carolina (17-7, 9-4) on Wednesday, but let’s walk before we try to run.

Here are some points to ponder while Pitt prepares for the final six games of the regular season:

1. Beware top-heavy ACC

It’s no secret the ACC isn’t as strong — top to bottom — as in previous seasons. But that doesn’t make Pitt’s path the rest of the season an easy one.

In CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein’s latest NCAA Tournament bracket projection, there are only four ACC teams listed — No. 7 Duke and unranked Notre Dame, Miami and Wake Forest. The Panthers play Duke, Miami and Notre Dame in the final two weeks of the regular season.

North Carolina is one of Rothstein’s First Four Out, along with Virginia, West Virginia and BYU.

Compare Rothstein’s current ACC projection to four other conferences with seven teams among his 68 — Big 12, Big East, Big Ten and SEC.

2. Hugley’s time

The return of Ithiel Horton as a 3-point threat should — in theory — unclog the paint and give John Hugley a chance to use his size to greater advantage.

But he must play smarter.

Hugley was assessed a technical foul Wednesday for hanging on the rim (a harmless act that doesn’t need to be adjudicated so harshly). He also committed an intentional foul in the backcourt.

“Those weren’t smart plays,” Capel said. “We took him out just to kind of talk to him a little bit. He came back in and did some good stuff for us. He’s important for us.”

Capel repeatedly has pointed out that Hugley, a sophomore, is a freshman in terms of experience because he played only seven games last season.

Now, he’s facing February intensity for the first team when teams are desperately trying to step over Pitt to get into the NCAA Tournament.

“All these things are learning experiences for him,” Capel said.

From Hugley’s stat line, Capel liked the eight rebounds, eight fouls drawn and zero turnovers. But Pitt needs more point production from Hugley than 11 points in three games.

3. Fly swatter

In his first and final season at Pitt, Mouhamadou Gueye has turned into one of the best shot-blockers in school history.

His total of eight against Florida State was one off the record set by Terrell Brown against Colgate in 2018. With 55 in 25 games, Gueye needs eight more to move past Aaron Gray and into 10th place all-time at Pitt. His average of 2.2 is eighth-best in school history. Charles Smith (106 and 3.2 per game in 1987) holds the record.

“He’s erasing some of our mistakes,” Jamarius Burton said.

Capel pointed out Gueye could have had “a great game” if he had done what he had been doing on the offensive end. He was 2 of 8 and 0 of 5 from 3-point range.

“He missed a lot of wide-open shots that he had been making,” Capel said.

Still, Capel took Gueye’s performance as a sign of growth.

“He didn’t allow that fact to affect his effort and his commitment to playing really good defense,” Capel said.

4. What to expect at the Pete

N.C. State started the season 6-1 against a weak schedule, needing four overtimes Dec. 1 to defeat a Nebraska (7-17, 1-12 Big Ten) team that just recently ended a 10-game losing streak. Since that game, N.C. State is 4-14 and will carry a five-game losing streak into the Pete. Nine of the 14 losses were by single-digit margins, so expect a tight one.

The Wolfpack have two players among the top nine scorers in the ACC — No. 4 Dereon Seabron (18.2 points per game) and No. 9 Terquavion Smith (15.5). Seabron, a 6-foot-7 sophomore, is second in rebounds (8.9). Smith leads the conference in made 3-pointers (71).

Around the rim, Pitt must be wary of 6-11 sophomore Ebenezer Dowuona, who has 41 blocks.

5. Sensing a trend?

Pitt is long overdue for a victory against N.C. State. The Wolfpack own a 12-game winning streak that dates to Jan. 4, 2014, when Pitt won 74-62, in Raleigh, N.C. It was Pitt’s first game against an ACC opponent as a member of the conference. Jamie Dixon’s team finished 26-10, 11-7 in the ACC — Pitt’s only winning record in eight full seasons in the conference.

N.C. State (19-2 all-time against Pitt) hasn’t lost in Pittsburgh since Jan. 23, 1971, when the Panthers won 89-75.

Of course, the most famous Pitt/N.C. State game occurred in the 1974 NCAA Tournament East Regional Final — also in Raleigh — when the great David Thompson fell on his head trying to block a shot. He was taken to the hospital with a head laceration but returned to the N.C. State bench with his head bandaged. He played only the first 10 minutes, but N.C. State won 100-72.