PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Just past the midway point of the second half, a struggling Panthers team was just down a point. Jordan Wright would make a three at the 8:18 mark and Vanderbilt would make its next seven consecutive shots, pulling away for a 68-52 win at the Petersen Events Center Wednesday night.
While Vanderbilt was hot going on a 17-2 run and shot 58% in the second half, 54% from three. Pitt shot 36% for the game and 2 of 15 from three.
“We allowed our inability to make shots affect everything,” said Pitt head coach Jeff Capel. “There was just this unbelievable slide where the defense for us was nonexistent. I’m not taking anything away from their execution.”
“We just can’t get discouraged when the ball doesn’t go in,” said senior transfer guard Jamarius Burton. “We can’t let our offense dictate our defense and we do that very frequently. For us to have that mindset that defense is all that matters, offense will take care of itself and not let the offense affect the defense. We will be a better team.”
“We weren’t together,” said sophomore Femi Odukale. “We kept bickering at each other. We weren’t connected and playing together. We saw them hit a couple of shots and we got down on ourselves. We just have to regroup and talk it out.”
“We have to get better,” Capel said. “We have to be able to play a 40-minute game. We cannot allow our inability to make shots affect our defense. We have not been a good shooting team and so we have to understand, the dirty work stuff has to be there all the time.”
Commodores led by Trey Thomas with 14 points and Scotty Pippen, Junior with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Pippen is the SEC Preseason Player of the Year.
Odukale had 14 points and 7-7 from the foul line. Freshman Nate Santos had 11 points and 6 rebounds, but just 1 of 8 from three.
“We have to be simple,” Capel said. “We have to make the simple play and we have to make the right play all the time. It can’t be a situation where an individual feels I have to do it. It needs to be we. Simple, smart and strong-that’s what we have to do.”
Both teams had issues shooting in the first half, Panthers hot 35% overall, Vandy 38% and 3-12 from three.
“Tonight was a great learning experience,” Burton said. “We can look at the film and see when adversity hit, how did we handle it. The result was the result, but we can learn from today.”
Panthers fall to 2-3 overall and 0-2 against Power 5 schools.
Up Next
Pitt hosts the University of Maryland-Baltimore County and head coach Jim Ferry, formerly the head coach at Duquesne. Tip at 2p Saturday with Bill Hillgrove, Curtis Aiken and Cale Berger starting pregame at 1:30p on 93.7 The Fan.