PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Four times this year, Pitt has held a lead at the 10-minute mark only to eventually lose. Late Tuesday night the Panthers trailed by one at that point, only to lose. Virginia (11-7, 5-3 ACC) sweeps the season series with a 66-61 win at the Petersen Events Center.
It was a back and forth first half with eight lead changes and four times tied. Cavaliers would grow the lead to 10 with 7:29 to play and Pitt (7-11, 2-5 ACC) would only get it within a single possession with a minute left. However, a miss by Mouhamadou Gueye in the lane followed by a short jumper by Virginia’s Armaan Franklin with 26 seconds left sealed the game.
“We just weren’t connected,” said Pitt head coach Jeff Capel. “The ball screen defense wasn’t connected. The help-side wasn’t connected. We just have to keep working, keep demanding, keep holding them accountable. Keep getting better, hopefully we can have some consistency.”
“They are the type of team, the type of defense to where you have to execute your stuff,” said Pitt senior Jamarius Burton. “Your first go-to shot may not be there. They make you go to counters and do things that you don’t like to do.”
Both teams shot 50 percent from the floor, but the Cavs made six more field goals, including three more threes. While Pitt won the overall rebounding battle, Virginia had 11 offensive rebounds, many at key times with 13 second chance points.
“I thought the biggest stat at halftime, I think they had eight offensive rebounds and we had 10 turnovers,” Capel said. “I thought that was huge. We talk all the time about valuing the basketball and we didn’t do that. They had 11 more possessions than us in the first half. That’s the attention to detail that we talk about.”
Reece Beekman finished with a team-high 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting with eight assists. The Cavs had 19 assists on 27 made field goals and forced 15 Panther turnovers.
“Honestly, it comes down to being the smarter and tougher team,” Burton said. “That’s what they were today. They were smarter and they were tougher.”
“Much respect for him (Capel),” said Virginia head coach Tony Bennett. “This isn’t just coach talk, you know when a team is improving and Jeff is doing that. They just lost a lot of close games.”
Every Pitt ACC loss has been by five points or fewer, except for the game at Syracuse.
Hugley shines again
Frustrated at times by the double teams in the first matchup at Virginia, shooting just 2 of 11 in December, John Hugley finished with 23 points (7-14 field goals) and seven rebounds.
Jamarius Burton’s free throw streak ended at 30 straight, but he finished with a dozen points, his 11th consecutive double-figure game. Femi Odukale had 10 points.
A key factor for the Panthers, Gueye picking up his fourth foul with 15:35 to play in the second half. The senior and Panthers fourth leading scorer would sit for nine straight minutes of game action that coincided with the Virginia run. Gueye had eight points and six rebounds and was one of only four Panthers with a positive plus/minus of plus nine.
FT
Panthers lead the ACC in free throws attempted (23.5 per game) and nearly hit their average going 18-22 Wednesday night. Virginia went 8 of 12 from the foul line.
Starting lineup
Following a win against Louisville on Saturday, Pitt stuck with the same starting lineup. Meaning Onyebuchi Ezeakudo started against in place of William Jeffress. If Pitt had held on in the first meeting with the Cavaliers, Ezeakudo would have had the game-winning three.
Next Up
Panthers on the road for a first meeting with Clemson, Saturday at 6p. Bill Hillgrove, Curtis Aiken and Cale Berger with Panthers pregame starting at 5:30p.