Pitt HC Jeff Capel Addresses Blake Hinson Slump

The Pitt Panthers are struggling in no small part because their best player is in a shooting slump.

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers forward Blake Hinson had scored 20 or more points in four straight games and had become one of the best scorers not just in the ACC but in college basketball altogether.

But the Panthers' biggest star is now mired in an unfamiliar, extended shooting slump and it's been one of the biggest reasons why the Panthers have slid to an 0-3 start in ACC play. Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said he was pleased with some of the looks Hinson got - the shots just didn't fall.  

"I thought in the first half, I thought he got some good looks. I thought we generated some good looks for him." Capel said. "Just didn’t go in. But I thought he got some really good looks early in the game. In the second half, we ran a couple things for him, got some open looks. He just didn’t make him."

With a five-point outing in the Panther's latest loss to North Carolina, Hinson has now scored under 15 points for a third straight game. 

He's averaging just nine points, 4.7 rebounds, and 0.67 assists per game while shooting 23.6% from the field and 13.6% from 3-point range. He made a school-record nine 3-pointers against West Virginia last month and has made just nine triples in the five games since. 

This is just the third time in Hinson's Pitt tenure that he's scored 15 or fewer points in three or more consecutive games. 

The last instance was a four-game stretch during the 2023 postseason when he averaged just 8.5 points per game on 33% shooting from the field and 31.8% shooting from deep in ACC and NCAA Tournament games against Georgia Tech, Duke, Mississippi State and Iowa State. The difference is that Pitt won three of those four games and they've lost two of their last three during this current personal skid for Hinson. 

Capel thought Hinson, like some other members of the team, forced shots while the Panthers were struggling to find offense in the second half against North Carolina. But Hinson's different than other players, Capel says, and they'll have to live with his struggles if the payoff explosive nights like he had against West Virginia and Clemson earlier this season. 

"I thought he pressed some, but you guys around here, you’ve seen - those are the shots that, he makes one and it gets him going and it gets us going, so you live with it." 

The Panthers are reeling and their success is tied to that of Hinson. So it's ride or die with their superstar scorer as they march on through ACC play, still seeking that first conference win. 

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