Pitt follows Duke win with 'lackadaisical' loss at 3-point happy Wake Forest

Two days before Pitt’s 76-75 loss to Wake Forest, Jeff Capel stopped just short of throwing his team out of practice.

Yes, things were that bad.

“First day (Thursday) back from (beating Duke), we were very lackadaisical,” sophomore forward Justin Champagnie said. “Going through the motions. He almost kicked us out of practice.

“It wasn’t good at all. We came in lazy. I always say practice leads to the game. We can’t expect good things to happen when we don’t put good things in.”

And so ended Pitt’s three-game winning streak Saturday night in Winston-Salem, N.C. Playing a team that had lost its first six ACC games, the Panthers (8-3, 4-2) played poor defense, allowed 15 made 3-pointers, missed free throws at critical moments and were lacking on what Capel called “hustle plays.”

What probably bothered Capel more than anything was he and his staff warned his players about Wake Forest scoring in 3-point bunches. The Demon Deacons (4-6, 1-6) had 13 3s in their previous game against North Carolina.

The main target of Pitt’s defense, which came into the game leading the ACC in 3-point defense (allowing only a 26.1% success rate), should have been Wake Forest’s Ismael Massoud.

But he shook loose for eight 3s on 10 attempts, finishing with 31 points.

“We didn’t have a sense of urgency to understand who the hot guy was,” Capel said.

Coaches warned the players about maintaining the same intensity that helped defeat Duke.

“It’s something we all as a coaching staff worried about, tried to have our guys mindful of,” Capel said. “Obviously, we didn’t do a good enough job of getting that message across. Everything about our preparation for this game led to this.”

Pitt was in control for much of the night, boosting a 45-38 halftime lead to 52-40 in two minutes.

Pitt had shot 61.5% from the field and made all nine of its free throws in the first half. The Panthers looked to be on their way to a fourth consecutive victory.

“We had a chance to really get some separation,” Capel said, “but we showed a lack of maturity that we haven’t shown in a while with some of shot selection during that time and then our effort on the defensive end.”

As a result, the Panthers played the final 10 minutes trying to come from behind and find an offense that eluded them. Wake Forest went on a 26-5 run at one point. Then, in the final 3 minutes, 26 seconds, Pitt’s Femi Odukale, Xavier Johnson and Champagnie each missed a free throw.

Champagnie led Pitt with 17 points, but he was scoreless for the first 13 minutes of the second half and managed only eight rebounds (none offensive for the first time in his career). Abdoul Karim Coulibaly had a career-high 15 points, and Johnson added 14.

Wake Forest scored only one point in the final 4:48, so Pitt had a chance to win when it forced a turnover in the backcourt with eight seconds left. But Johnson missed a jump shot despite a good look at the basket.

“Even if that shot had gone in, I would have been happier, but we weren’t deserving of winning by some of the things that we did,” Capel said.

“We have to be able to handle success like mature people and be hungry for more and not be satisfied and understand what it means to show up every day.”

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