Pitt's 3-game winning streak provides chance to salvage season

The narrative surrounding Pitt before its stunning upset of North Carolina was this:

The two-game winning streak was nice, but it’s time to confront the big boys of the ACC. Yes, the Panthers play hard, connect on defense and — thank you, Ithiel Horton — make the opponent respect the perimeter.

But much of the damage had been done. It was determined weeks ago — cynics might say at the start of the season — that this would be Pitt’s sixth consecutive season without a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Pitt hasn’t gone this long without a taste of March Madness since 2001.

But there should be no final evaluation of Jeff Capel’s fourth Pitt team until the final stretch plays out, starting with the current three-game winning streak.

To be clear, however, there’s no ignoring what occurred earlier this season. You’ve heard the reasons (excuses?) for the 8-16 record after the 27-point loss at Virginia Tech on Feb. 7.

They started with Nike Sibande’s season-ending injury Nov. 1, coupled with Horton’s 19-game suspension. There were travel issues on the way to Boston College, with Capel staying home because of covid complications.

But nine of Pitt’s 16 defeats weren’t close — a margin of at least 10 points — and six of the nine were against teams currently in the bottom half of their conference standings.

Worse, Pitt has been unable to take advantage of a season in which the ACC is vulnerable almost from top to bottom.

Only No. 9 Duke is ranked. Associated Press poll voters — I was one of them — all but ignored Notre Dame this week, despite the Irish being tied for first place with the Blue Devils. Two days after the release of the poll, Notre Dame needed overtime to defeat Boston College (9-15, 4-10) at home.

Pitt has won six conference games, which is no reason to celebrate. The Panthers won that many in each of the previous two seasons.

Yet, the team Capel has constructed, nurtured and kept together is different than last season’s dysfunctional group that included two starters who cleaned out their lockers and went home when there still were games to play.

This season, the Panthers (11-16, 6-10) learned from adversity, which is what happens when the man at the top has an appropriately firm grip on his players.

It has helped that seniors Jamarius Burton and Mouhamadou Gueye — unearthed by Capel from the NCAA transfer portal — have provided leadership and clutch plays. Also, Horton’s 48.8% 3-point rate (20 of 41) in his eight games has made a significant difference. Horton and Gueye combined for five 3s during an impressive 21-2 run in the first half at Chapel Hill.

“The season taught us a lot,” Burton said. “We had leads and blew them. We came back (in other games) and were right there to win it. All those experiences have helped us down the stretch because when we get in those type of moments, we’re staying together and staying composed.”

There are no guarantees over the final four regular-season games, however, other than the next three are at Petersen Events Center, starting with Georgia Tech (10-15, 3-11) on Saturday. Then, it’s Miami, a week off and Duke, followed by a trip to Notre Dame on March 5, three days before the start of the ACC Tournament at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Miami, Duke and Notre Dame look to be the best the ACC has to offer (60-18, collectively) and probably will be an even stiffer test than North Carolina provided.

Let’s see what happens in the next three weeks before we declare 2021-22 a disaster.