Pitt Passes First Real Test

The Pitt Panthers struggled in the process but won despite that in their first real test of the season.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers had rolled in their first two games of the season, easy wins over North Carolina A&T and Binghamton. Their third game of the 2023-24 season against Florida Gulf Coast was quite a different story. 

Pitt entered the Petersen Events Center with an average margin of victory of 38.5 and beat the Eagles by just 12. They were imperfect but resilient and victorious, a Power 5 coach's dream at this point in the non-conference schedule. They were tested for the first time and passed with flying colors, but still have plenty to work on - a dream scenario for Jeff Capel. 

"This was a heck of a win for our team," Capel said. "I thought we beat a good basketball team that’s a little bit older, very physical, well-coached. They have good players and they played their butts off. I thought this was a great game for us. It’s a great game to learn from. I can’t wait to get to the film and I think there are so many teachable moments from this game that will help us as we go forward."

Florida Gulf Coasts has experience, led by four upperclassmen guards and physical frontcourt players, plus a Division I head coach of 13 years in Pat Chambers at the helm. Prior to facing Pitt, they had shot 3-pointers at the fifth-highest rate in college basketball, made them at the 73rd-best rate in Division I and protected the ball, averaging fewer than 10 turnovers per game. 

They have all the makings of a dangerous mid-major team, the kind that you see make surprising runs in conference and NCAA Tournaments. FGCU is plainly good without any of the qualifications about their station in the sport necessary and the Panthers stood tall in the face of that challenge, proving their mettle as well as they could at this point in the season. 

"This was good for us, because our defense was tested," Capel said. "This was not as good of a performance defensively as we’ve had and that hopefully we have going forward. Hopefully, we learn a lot from this."

Pitt had looked like a fantastic defensive team through two games. Their size in the frontcourt overwhelmed the first two opponents and covered for some subpar perimeter defense. 

Against the Eagles, the perimeter defense got exposed for stretches. The Panthers extended out to cover shooters (something they did well, for the record) but that came at the expense of the interior defense. Guards and wings got beat off the dribble and on cuts, which Pitt's backline was unable to react quickly enough to. It led to either open layups or fouls and a slim advantage for FGCU on points in the paint. 

"I think as a team we just had to lock in and understand that that’s not who we’ve been since the summer, since Spain, since our first two games," forward Will Jeffress said. "We’ve been a great defensive squad as a unit and I feel like we just had some mental lapses, where we came together as a squad and just said, ‘We have to tighten up so we could change the game.’"

They did exactly that in the second half, employing double teams on post players and then rotating efficiently to cover the shooters while also taking some pride in their individual defensive assignments. From there, the script unfolded much like it had in the first two games, with the Panthers turning steals and defensive rebounds into easy layups in transition that were desperately needed on a relatively cold shooting night. 

Capel got his first real glimpse into how this team responds to adversity. 

When the Eagles tied the game at 30 with 5:04 left in the first half, Pitt rattled off a 15-5 run that gave them a 10-point lead at halftime. When a 13-3 run from FGCU cut a 15-point lead to five with 4:04 remaining, the Panthers answered with a suffocating defensive effort, holding their opponents to just three points following the final media timeout and making all of their final five free throw attempts after a missing 14 of their first 27 foul shots. 

Capel was happy about the win but seemed even more excited about his first real chance to point some issues out on film, tinker with his team in practice and hopefully play better the next time out.

This is where the real work starts for Capel and his players. One more game against a low-major at the end of the week stands in between Pitt and five in a row against high-major opponents. That means one game and about 10 days to take some early lessons, internalize them and come out on the other end ready to make a statement.

"I thought they were determined. I thought they were locked in," Capel said. "Again, some unbelievable teachable moments. ... There were some unbelievable teachable moments for us in this game, where we can learn a lot and get better."

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