PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – John Hugley with a career-high 32 points as the Panthers finally made one-more play than their opponent at the end for a 69-67 win over Boston College.
"I honestly think I'm one of the better players in the ACC," Hugley said. "I feel that going against them, they can't stop me. I'm going to keep attacking everybody. Whoever they put on the floor."
"John was tremendous all game, 37 minutes is probably a little bit too much," said Pitt head coach Jeff Capel. "We had to ride him. He made big plays. He stepped up and made free throws."
"He got going early and you are going to feed the hot hand," said guard Jamarius Burton.
Hugley said he did what the team needed him to do. The team needed all of those points and the career-high 15 made free throws (in 20 attempts). Hugley also finished with 13 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season.
"If he gets fouled, we feel very confident in him making free throws," Capel said. "He can be a good decision-maker in those situations. When you are in tight situations, you want someone you feel confident that can make free throws, make good decisions, strong enough to get to spots and be able to make plays."
Capel said he's played at a high level pretty much all year and is still not where he can be.
"He's continuing to work and get better," Capel said. "There is a process to becoming a really good player individually and becoming a really good team. It's day-to-day. You have to stack good days. He's learning how to do that. There's still a large room for him to grow in that area, but he's starting to do that."
"When you see some of the results that he has, it makes guys want to get in the gym and work a little bit more because they are starting to see the results of that."
Among the first plays Capel mentioned in his post-game were the pair of charges Burton drew, including one on Jaeden Zackery with 1:17 to play.
"Those are just hustle plays trying to save the possession for us off of turnovers," Burton said. "I know how important these turnovers are. Just wanted to get back on defense and make an impact."
Burton played every single minute, finished with 14 points including 6-6 from the foul line and now 24 for his last 24 free throw attempts. Femi Odukale had 11 points and four assists. Mo Gueye hit a pair of threes for six points. Sophomore Will Jeffress had six points, all in the second half, with four rebounds.
"Hopefully this is a breakthrough for us and we can start stacking some of these," Capel said.
Panthers (6-9, 1-3 ACC) are at Syracuse (7-8, 1-3), Tuesday at 7p with pregame at 6:30p on 93.7 The Fan.
No Horton
Guard Ithiel Horton did not play after he was reinstated for the Louisville game following dropped charges for an off-campus incident of allegedly punching a police officer. Here is the Pitt official statement.
"The University of Pittsburgh was notified that charges had been re-filed from the incident in early November and is adhering to athletic department policies. The case had been resolved when all charges were dismissed on Dec. 30. However, with the charges being re-filed Ithiel will not compete until the matter is resolved. We will continue to support Ithiel during this trying time and look forward to an appropriate resolution."
Hugley said he is there to motivate Horton and was going to talk to him as soon as he could. Here is what Capel said, unedited.
"It's been a very emotional day for me," Capel said. "Before the game, I walked down the hall to do radio (interview before the game). There is a video board right there. When I walked out, the video board had Ithiel, it was stuff on a loop. It was Ithiel doing his ball-handling routine before Louisville and he had a big smile on his face."
"I got really, really emotional and I asked them to turn it off. There is something that doesn't feel right about us getting ready for a game and him sitting in a jail cell."
"I feel for him. I love him. He's a great, great kid. It's really, really messed up what is happening and what he is having to go through again. We got here for shootaround this morning and he was the first one here."
"It's been an emotional day for all of us because he is someone that we care about, that we love. We know what kind of young man he is. He has all of my support. I love him. I am with him 1000 percent."
"It's BS, I think."
