It wasn’t just that Pitt turned the ball over far too frequently. It was what Miami did with all the takeaways.
The Panthers (11-18, 6-11) coughed the ball up 11 times in the first half, and the Hurricanes (20-8, 12-5) scored 19 points off of those giveaways, racking up a 20-point halftime lead and beating Pitt, 85-64, Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center.
“We dug ourselves a hole with the turnovers once again,” Pitt coach Jeff Capel said. “We talked about that we have to be strong and value the ball. If we do that, we’ll get good looks and it’s just a matter of knocking them down.
“It was just entirely too many turnovers. That’s an area that’s plagued us all year and it showed up again tonight.”
Pitt, which is last in the ACC in turnover margin, never recovered from the careless first half, turning the ball over nine more times in the second half, as Miami scored 30 points off turnovers in the game and secured its first 20-win season since 2017-18.
The Hurricanes had four players score in double figures. Kameron McGusty and Charlie Moore each scored 19 points for Miami.
“They have elite level guards,” said Capel. “That is the best backcourt that we’ve played against. They’re all really good ball handlers, elite shot makers, they can create off the bounce. They can shoot it with range, they get mid-range, and they were able to do it all today.
Pitt was led by John Hugley, who scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Jamarius Burton dropped in 12 points, Mouhamadou Gueye added 11 and Femi Odukale ten.
When the game changed
Despite falling behind 14-2 out of the gates, Pitt rallied back into the game. The Panthers trailed, 20-12, with 11:13 left in the first half. But Mouhamadou Gueye picked up his second foul on a dunk attempt.
Gueye crashed to the floor and was injured on the play, immediately grabbing his right wrist. He went straight to the locker room and later returned to the bench with his wrist wrapped, but did not see the court again until after halftime.
The 6-foot-10, shot blocking and scoring presence of Gueye was felt. Pitt pulled the deficit to 24-18, but the Hurricanes outscored the Panthers 23-9 the rest of the first half.
“When he picked up his second foul, that was a big thing for us,” said Capel, who characterized Gueye’s injury as a wrist sprain. “We’re a different team when he’s out of the game for us. He can protect the basket, he can space it on offense with his ability to shoot the basketball… That was a big blow for us. But they were getting downhill even before that.”
Gueye ended up taking just two shots in the second half, making one of them, as Capel reduced the forward’s minutes.
“It changed it a lot,” Hugley added. “That’s scoring right there. It’s a big piece of our scoring and rebounding. It’s a big drop off, but it’s next man up.”
Up next
The Panthers have a “welcomed” week off, according to Capel, before hosting No. 7 Duke next Tuesday at 8 p.m.
The game will be the final road game for Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski.