With under 40 seconds to play, leading Towson 59-57, Pitt guard Jamarius Burton caught a pass right in front of the Panthers' bench, and right in front of Pitt coach Jeff Capel.
The Tigers, desperate to get the ball back, immediately deployed a trap on Burton, who attempted to step through and make a pass.
Capel watched, as that attempt was initially denied. He watched, with two timeouts at his disposal, as Burton muscled his way through the two defenders and finally got a pass off to a teammate, Nate Santos.
Santos was fouled. He hit two free throws. And Pitt won the game, 63-59.
It was an obvious moment of trust from Capel towards his young team.
"I think that coach has tremendous trust in us," said sophomore guard Will Jeffress, who stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds and four assists. "That's why he puts us on the floor."
"I'm really proud of our guys," Capel added. "This was a big win for us, to be able to scratch and claw and to make some plays down the stretch… Our guys made big plays."
Burton scored all 11 of his points after halftime following an 0-5 showing from the floor in the first half. Santos, a freshman, went for a team-leading 14 points and eight rebounds, knocking down four shots from beyond the arc.
"It's going to be huge for (Santos)," Capel said. "His progression has had to be sped up because of the situations that we've been in. I think he's done a really good job. We know that he can shoot the basketball. I think he's gotten better, each game, defensively."
Capel showed trust in some new players while also providing some teachable moments. Starters Femi Odukale and John Hugley only played 19 minutes each. Odukale came back into the game late, but Hugley remained on the bench.
"(Hugley) didn't play well," Capel said, attributing both players absences to sub-standard performance and body language issues. "We were playing well, he didn't play well. That's why he didn't come back in.
"This team's not about one guy, it's about everyone. So if one guy doesn't play it probably means that somebody else is playing pretty well."
Someone else did play well. In fact, a few someones did. Dan Oladapo racked up 11 points and Noah Collier gave Pitt seven points from the center position.
"Part of the energy and what I bring to the game translates to defense and offense. When I got my opportunity, I made sure to take advantage of it.
Pitt shared the ball well, picking up assists on 16 of 21 made shots. And, as the game wore on, the Panthers became more efficient, shooting at a 59.1 percent clip after halftime, a 27.1 percent improvement from the first 20 minutes.
"I just think our energy was right," said Capel. "We were so connected down the stretch, offensively and defensively. The huddles were really good, the way they were talking to each other.
"They were excited for each other. And I thought all of them did it, it wasn't just one person. I thought all of them gave each other energy and it became contagious."
