PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Never has a Pitt men's basketball team started ACC play 5-0. That can change on Saturday at 4p on 93.7 The Fan against conference unbeaten Clemson.
Not that the players are getting ahead of themselves with 15 more games to play.
"Being in this position is great, I recognize that," said transfer forward Blake Hinson. "But nothing has actually happened. We won conference games, nothing has been completed. Nothing is finished. There is nothing to be big-headed about."
"We are just trying to get better each and every day," said senior guard Jamarius Burton. "We've had two big wins, but for us it's about not getting complacent. Understanding that we have another tremendous opportunity this weekend against Clemson. We are trying to lock in on that."
The Panthers have sandwiched a loss around a pair of five-game winning streaks. The current one includes victories at Syracuse and over Top 25 teams North Carolina and Virginia.
Hinson has been their scoring and emotional leader. After sitting out the last two seasons, Hinson has 14 double figure scoring games including 10 of 15 points or more. He's sixth in the ACC at 17.0 points-per-game and ninth with 7.0 rebounds-per-game.
"We count on everybody," Hinson said. "The trust we have within each other comes from the energy that everybody is centered towards winning. If you are centered towards winning I can put trust in you no matter if you are a freshman or a fifth-year."
Burton is the only starter back from last year and is averaging 15.7 points, five rebounds and four assists per game. He's shooting .552 from the field and led the win over the Tar Heels with 31 points.
"Our bond is unique," Burton said. "It's genuine. It started in the summer, all of us getting together, working out. Getting together off the court, just trying to build that bond. We started talking about how we could play off each other within the system and make each other better. We've been able to do that."
Transfers Nelly Cummings (Colgate) at 10.7 points, 5.1 assists and Greg Elliott (Marquette) at 10.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and made 31 three-point field goals to lead the team. Sophomore Federiko Federiko is averaging 6.1 points and 5.5 rebounds and a team-high 24 blocks and Nike Sibande is the spark off the bench at 6.5 points and 3.9 rebounds a game.
Every player in the starting lineup is a transfer as is Sibande, but it works well. They've learned how to make the extra pass and it's not a 'me-first' team.
"We all understand the biggest thing is winning and winning cures all," Burton said. "If we win everyone will get that slice of the pie. It's keeping the main thing the main thing and that's winning."
Burton said the energy at the last couple of home games has been great. They've won while students are on break and as they start coming back this weekend, they would love to have a big crowd for the first-place matchup against the Tigers.
"It would be great," Hinson said, noting he feeds off the energy. "Shout out to the Oakland Zoo. I reached out to some of the guys who lead the Oakland Zoo. They know we appreciate them. It's awesome the City of Pittsburgh coming out. It feels great, I'm sure it feels terrible for the other team. I would appreciate if it were a big showing again."
Burton knows what the pain was like last year, something the other starters can't understand. Pitt has already matched its overall win total from last year and are two wins from matching the most ACC wins under Jeff Capel. They're focusing on trying to stay in the moment.
"We are in the ACC, the quality of opponents is high every time," Hinson said. "We are just focused on being 1-0 and that's it."
Support Damar
Fans attending the game are invited to sign a banner in support of Bills safety and former Panthers all-conference player Damar Hamlin. It will be available during pregame from 3-3:50p on the upper concourse level behind sections 224 and 225. It's next to the double escalators.
After tip, the banner will be displayed in the arena.
