PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The fight was there, the effort was there, the results just weren't for a fourth straight game. What the Panthers said of turning it around after a 78-75 overtime loss to Clemson Saturday afternoon.
Pitt was down by 14 in the second half, got it back to take the lead with 5:43 to play. They led by three with 3:17 in the second half and hit a late shot to force overtime. The Panthers took an early lead in the extra period, but allowed a 7-0 run they couldn't overcome and fell to 12-6, 3-4 ACC on the season.
"Tonight, I loved our fight," said senior guard Ishmael Leggett. "I loved everything about who we were, we didn't fold under pressure when we were down 10 at half. We kept fighting. Kept fighting. Kept fighting and stayed in the fight. It didn't go our way today, but I loved the way we handled ourselves and we played today."
Leggett believes if they continue to play with that intensity, it will lead to better results going forward starting at Syracuse on Saturday before hosting North Carolina to end January. All that being said there is a reality to Division 1 basketball.
"It's not enough," said Pitt head coach Jeff Capel.
"We have to be able to do more, sustain more. I liked the fight. This has obviously been a rough two weeks for us. We will keep plugging and keep pushing and try to get better."
It's been a little bit of everything in the four-game stretch, the mention of fight is important because Pitt was -15 (Duke), -13 (Louisville) and -6 (Florida State) in rebounding margin. They were a negative against Clemson, but a -2 and had four more offensive rebounds.
In the Duke game, didn't score the final eight minutes of the game, against the Cardinals allowed 47% shooting in the second half. Florida State got in their heads which helped to cause 17 turnovers, 37% field goals and 24 personal fouls. Against the Tigers, allowed 14 made three-pointers including the dagger late in overtime by Chase Hunter who was 5-9 from three. It's been a variety of issues.
"We have to be better all the way around," Capel said. "We can't have lulls. We have to understand the importance of every possession offensively and defensively in doing the things necessary to win."
"We have to talk more. We have to be tougher. We have to be a little more physical. We have to be more disciplined. We have to be better all the way around, everyone, coaches, players, everyone. I look forward to getting back to work and doing it."
Panthers have some time, after playing five games in 14 days, Pitt gets a week to practice. Then a stretch of games where four days is the biggest break for the next month.
"Two weeks ago, we were sitting in a really good spot, these past two weeks have been tough for us," Capel said. "To me, you learn a lot about who you are and who we are. As a program during my time here, we've been in this spot before (0-3 and then 1-5 to start ACC play in 2023-24). We've been able to fight our way out of it."
"I think this group has the ability to do that. But we have to do it. We can't just talk about it, we have to do it. We have to collectively as a group understand the things that we have to do in order to do that."
"It's just adversity," Leggett said, the veteran of 136 career college basketball games. "We've all been through it. We hit adversity, it's all about how you respond. You can't get that one back, I wish we could. We have to focus on the next task at hand."
Capel said he learned from his father the value of staying even keeled, not getting too high, or in this circumstance, too low. He said his team will fight back. He mentioned there is still a lot of season left, but they've got to find some answers, soon.
