PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – On a night where Pitt could rarely hit the deep shot and its leading scorer was held 16 points below his average, the Panthers survived on defense and rebounding for a 62-48 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in the final non-conference game of the regular season.
"I thought we did an unbelievable job defensively," said Pitt head coach Jeff Capel. "This is a team that came in averaging 87 points and to hold them to 17 in the first half and 48 for the game. I thought our guys really did a great job of attention of detail to the scouting report, understanding personnel and executed."
Panthers crashed the boards ending up with a 54-33 advantage and held the Mastodons to 34% shooting from the floor and 19% shooting on three-pointers (1-13 in the 1st half). PFW didn't score its first points until 6:30 into the game and the Panthers forced a couple of shot clock violations in the first half.
GDG
Filling up the stat sheet in the first half on Wednesday night was sophomore Guillermo Diaz Graham. He would end up with 13 points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and three assists. He also was a game-leading +23 plus/minus. At halftime the Pitt center led the team in field goals, rebounds, points, assists, blocks, steals and minutes.
"G played with force and played that way throughout," Capel said. "His impact on the game was everywhere. He played with force, same with Zach (Austin), which is a really important word for him.
When he plays that way, we are different."
Notes
· 6th opponent of the season the Panthers held to 60 points or fewer
· Scoring only five points, Blake Hinson did lead the Panthers with 10 rebounds
· Zach Austin finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes
· The ACC leader in assists, Bub Carrington didn't have any, but did have 12 points
· Pitt shot 2-20 from three
· Panthers finished 9-2 in non-conference play
"I think we've gotten better," Capel said of their nonconference schedule. "We did play against different styles. We had that stretch where we had those five games in a row against Power 5 teams, three away from home. All of that will prepare us because we play in a league with different styles. All of the stuff we have been through will prepare us for a tough ACC stretch."
Same Lineup
Panthers went the same changed lineup from the win over South Carolina State.
· G Bub Carrington
· G Ishmael Leggett
· F Blake Hinson
· F Will Jeffress
· C Guillermo Diaz Graham
Christmas Break
A 10-day gap between games and Jeff Capel wants the team and himself to take the first half and be with family and friends.
"it's a long season and it's very emotional," Capel said. "Every game is emotional, especially when it means so much to all of us who are in it. So when you have a chance to decompress and get away from it a little bit. I think it's huge."
"It's a two-semester sport. We don't have a week to prepare for every game. These games come pretty quickly and they are all heavyweight matches. When you have a chance to mentally get a break, physically get a break to allow your body to recover, I think it's huge."
"Not just for the players, but for the coaches too."
Up Next
It's all ACC the rest of the way starting December 30th at Syracuse as a Noon start with pregame at 11:30a on 93.7 The Fan.
