PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – What Pitt head coach Jeff Capel wants to see Saturday is no drastic game plan change after the loss to Notre Dame. It’s not even re-emphasizing the fundamentals. He just wants his team to ‘go for it’ Saturday night in Miami with the ACC Championship on the line.
“This is an unbelievable opportunity,” Capel said during The Jeff Capel Show on the Pitt Panthers Radio Network and 93.7 The Fan.
“Let’s just go have fun, let’s go for it. Let’s go be who we’ve been all year. We’ve been a team that’s free, that competes. That’s been about the right things. Let’s not let the moment take us out of who we are, take us out of the joy of what we do.”
He believes part of the issue against Notre Dame was when they got down late in the first half, they tensed up. Capel saw his team getting tight. He thought they got a little panicked, like they were playing not to lose something instead of the aggression and freedom with which they played most of the season.
The Pitt players had Thursday off, While talking about a point or two from the Irish game, especially getting the defense back to where it was about four games ago, it will mostly be about the rematch with Miami. The Hurricanes have been a Top 25 team most of the season and have had all week to prepare not only to avenge a game they lost to Pitt, but a 25-point lead they lost to Florida State. Before the FSU game, Miami had won every game since the loss at the Petersen Events Center including beating Duke, North Carolina, Clemson, Wake Forest and a pair over Virginia Tech. Even the loss against the Panthers, the Hurricanes were in control until a 11-0 run to end the game earned Pitt the upset in late January.
“We made some plays down the stretch,” Capel recalled on his show about that matchup. “We hung around, hung around, made enough plays and were tremendous down the stretch. We were incredibly tough.”
It was the first game this season that Pitt didn’t play their best, yet were able to beat a NCAA Tournament team.
“We were tough, incredibly competitive and down the stretch,” Capel said on 93.7 The Fan. “We made plays. That’s how you know you have a pretty good team when you don’t play well and still figure out a way-especially against a really, really good team.”
The challenge will be no less daunting Saturday, Miami is expecting a sold-out crowd in a building they’ve won 15 of 16 this year on Senior Night. They have four players averaging over 13.5 points a game and average 80 points a game as a group.
“Wong is huge, he’s as good of a guard as we have in our league,” Capel said. “As good as a shot-maker, he makes very difficult shots. Nijel Pack is leading them in scoring over the last five games at about 18 a game. Jordan Miller is an unbelievable glue guy, he’s really good.”
“They are a really good basketball team. They are older. They are very, very confident. We know it will be a packed house.”
Yet here is Pitt, picked to finish 14th in the conference, with one game to win the ACC. Pregame starts at 5:30 with Bill Hillgrove, Curtis Aiken and Cale Berger with tip at 6 on 93.7 The Fan.