Efton Reid Denies Pitt F Will Jeffress' Defensive Impact
PITTSBURGH -- Wake Forest center Efton Reid was wrecking the game and flummoxing every defensive plan the Pitt Panthers threw at him. When in single coverage, he scored. When they double-teamed him, he passed out to open shooters. When they fronted him, he was savvy and skilled enough to make creative moves to the basket.
But Pitt head coach Jeff Capel pushed one button that changed the game - he sicked Will Jeffress, a 6'7 defensive specialist, on Reid and Jeffress shut him down. Reid didn't score, committed two fouls and a turnover and grabbed three rebounds over the final 9:26 of the game, during which Jeffress was matched up on him. But Reid believed Jeffress' defense didn't affect him at all.
“I mean they probably just threw him in there to see what I would do and I handled it accordingly," Reid said following a 77-72 loss at the Petersen Events Center. "He’s pretty strong so I mean, it really didn’t affect me, to be honest. Probably got one steal over the back, but they were doubling anyway.”
The decision to put Jeffress on Reid seemed questionable at first but quickly proved to be a game-changing move. The Panthers had battled back from down 12 to tie the game at 49 with 10:36 remaining in the second half, but back-to-back buckets from Reid put Wake Forest back ahead by three with 9:25 to play.
Then Jeffress sparked a suffocating team defensive effort that keyed an 18-6 run over the next 7:20 of game time that flipped a two-point deficit into a 10-point lead for Pitt, one that would sustain it through the end of a much-needed victory.
The battle got physical at points, with Jeffress not only harassing Reid in the low post but boxing out well too, clearing room for Pitt to dominate rebounding on both ends in the final minutes. Reid shrugged that off as well, saying that he and Jeffress know each other from high school so kept things friendly when the game ended.
But Reid made sure to add that he still didn't feel like Jeffress' physicality made a difference.
"We’re two competitors so it’s not really — it’s basketball," Reid said. "I didn’t really take offense to that. He pushed me, I pushed him back and then after the game, we hugged it out. I mean, it wasn’t even a challenge. He was fronting me and they had help side, so it’s basketball. They were trying to get me off my game but I stayed level-headed. I didn't really try to think anything of it.”
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