Pitt gets 1st ACC road win in 13 months

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Most of the game it wasn't pretty, but a trio of great individual efforts led the Panthers (9-16, 4-10) to a 56-51 win at Florida State (13-10, 6-7) late Wednesday night. A first conference road win since January, 2021 at Syracuse.

"I'm really proud of our guys," said Pitt head coach Jeff Capel.  "I thought we had good preparation and did some really good things, tough things throughout the game.  We were terrific defensively."

Panthers held FSU to 29% shooting overall and the same from the three-point line.  Pitt also was even in rebounds and a plus two in turnovers.

"One of the things we talked about was we have to have poise in the midst of chaos," Capel said.  "Anytime you play Florida State, the game can be chaotic because the way they defense is very different from everyone else.  I liked that we had poise and guys stepped up and made big plays."

Burton Clutch

Jamarius Burton was one of a number of Panthers to struggle early, but the senior transfer was four of seven from the field in the second half including a huge mid-range jumper with 34 seconds left.  On the possession, he bled the shot clock and hit about a 16-footer.

Burton also scored on a drive against a 7-footer, hit a three with 3:19 left after Florida State had cut the lead to two.  He also made a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left to kick the lead up to five.

All of this despite scoring two points in the first half.

"Regardless if I'm playing good or not, just continue to encourage myself mentally," Burton said.  "Self-talk, talk to myself, recite scriptures, everything I can to stay locked in."

"He made big plays," Capel said.  "He made big free throws for us and did a good job defensively."

Burton finished with 13 points, his team-leading 18^th double-figure game.

Mo Blocks

6' 11" Mouhamadou Gueye tied a career-high with eight blocked shots, the most he's ever had with Pitt.

"He is our eraser," Burton said.  "When he does that it puts us in great standing because he is erasing some of our mistakes."

"It was huge," Capel said.  "A lot of the shots he blocked were off the basketball.  Just to have that guy there that could erase some mistakes."

"I thought he had a really good game, he had a chance to have a great game.  He missed a lot of wide-open shots that he's been making.  He didn't allow that to affect his effort and to play really good defense."

Along with the eight blocks, Gueye had six points and six rebounds.

IT was IT

The biggest game of the year for junior guard Ithiel Horton, scoring a third of the Panthers points in the first half and finishing with nearly half, a game-high 25 points.

"It felt really good to be in some type of rhythm," Horton said.  "It felt really good to have confidence out there on the floor.  It felt really good to be back to myself.  I had a tough, rough year this year.  It felt really good to just come out and breakout."

Horton said he felt like he was due for a game like that, finishing seven of 13 from three, adding five rebounds.

"He's capable of doing that," Burton said.  "He's a dangerous catch-and-shoot three-point shooter and he did that tonight.  He was big for us with the foul trouble me and Mo experienced in the first half, he was able to carry us for a big part of that game.  He's finding his rhythm."

It also was Horton's first start of the year in just his sixth game of the season due to the earlier suspension.

"After last game when I went back and watched tape, I just felt like it was time," Capel said.  "If nothing would have happened and we would have been whole, Ithiel would have been a starter at the beginning of the year.  I felt like it was time to go back to our best lineup."

Notes
·     After shooting just 25 percent in the first half, Panthers shot 42% in the second and 50% from three.
·     Will Jeffress had six rebounds and two points in 10 minutes of the first half.
·     John Hugley finished with seven points and eight rebounds.

"Any win for us is big," Capel said.  "They have been one of the best teams in our league, they've won the league.  For us to be able to come into this environment at the end of our third game in five days.  To have the energy to play with the effort that we did is something I'm really proud of."

Up Next

The week of four games in seven days continues at the Petersen Events Center, Panthers host NC State Saturday at 3p.  Panthers pregame starts at 2:30p with Bill Hillgrove, Curtis Aiken and Cale Berger.