PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – They’ve battled against each other in multiple leagues now the result of Tuesday’s matchup could shape which team gets an NCAA Tournament berth.
Clemson, 19-8 on the season, hosts Pitt 18-9 this year at 7p on Tuesday night on 93.7 The Fan. The Tigers are seen by most as a near lock for March Madness with a NET ranking of 23 compared to Pitt’s 47. The Tigers seemed to have it in their hands last year at 23-11, but didn’t get in the NCAAs and want another win on the resume.
Old foes
These two coaches faced each other in their first head coaching jobs. Brownell at Wilmington and Capel at VCU. Both discussed the respect they have for each other.
“You know they are well coached,” Capel said. “You know they are going to be really, really physical, You know they are going to be very efficient offensively. They are going to make it difficult for you to run your stuff. They are very well prepared with guarding your actions. They make you work for everything.”
“Brad is a really, really good coach. He’s done an unbelievable job at Clemson over his time.”
Brownell praised Capel for ‘resurrecting’ the Pitt program. He was speaking of the last couple of years, but he could be speaking of the last five weeks. On January 19, the Panthers were 1-5 in conference play. Now Pitt is fifth in the ACC at 9-7 and feel they are a better team than the one the Tigers pushed around at the Petersen Events Center in early December.
“We really have to do a better job of defensive rebounding, defending in the post, our ball screen defense, our transition defense because we were really bad the last time we played them in those areas,” Capel said.
PJ Hall had 22 points, 11 rebounds, Ian Schieffelin had eight points, but 17 rebounds (seven offensive) as the Tigers were a plus-seven in rebounds overall and had 28 points in the paint on December 3.
“They played well,” Capel said. “We did not play well. They made us not play well. We still had some opportunities. I think we are very, very different now. I think they are different. I like where we are and just excited about the opportunity to go down and play a good team.”
Brownell has noticed the change in the Panthers as well.
“You just see a tough-minded group,” Brownell said. “A group playing with a lot of urgency. They are very connected offensively. They moved Jaland Lowe to the point sometime after our first game and probably allowed Carrington a little more freedom to just be a scorer.”
“Jeff’s got a really good group. He’s recruited well. The pieces fit and they are playing great basketball.”
Capel won all of those matchups back in the day. Brownell has won all eight in the ACC. The winner of this one has a strong end to February heading to March Madness.