Pitt Shows Maturity in Bounceback Win
PITTSBURGH -- Coming off the heels of a humiliating loss to Wake Forest, the Pitt Panthers rebounded with a 79-64 win at home over Virginia Tech that kept their NCAA Tournament hopes afloat.
Jeff Capel stated that the Panthers' attitude and execution in practice leading up to Saturday's game laid the foundation for their strong performance as did the growth and development they have continuously exhibited this season.
"This team is learning," Capel said. "We’re growing. We’re getting better. We learn from every situation. And I’m proud of the maturity that we showed on Thursday, how we responded in practice Thursday and Friday - I thought that led to us playing well today."
After shooting a season-worst 29% from the field against the Demon Deacons, Pitt turned it around against the Hokies and shot 50.9% overall to go with a 42.9% mark from behind the arc. Blake Hinson led the way with 22 points after tallying just 10 his last time out while Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett finished with totals of 18 and 13, respectively.
On the defensive end, the Panthers' stout perimeter defense held Virginia Tech to 3-of-20 shooting from three-point range and 40.7% overall just days after allowing Wake Forest to connect on 60.8% of its attempts from the floor and 50% from deep.
All season long, Capel has stressed the importance of his team buying in and learning how to fight as the going got tough. While it took a while for Pitt to settle into a groove and find its identity, it has consistently epitomized those core values that Capel has hammered home.
The Panthers' spirit and maturity has helped them mesh and become a group that relishes the opportunity to play on the road and prove themselves in some of the nation's toughest environments. Additionally, they have shown the ability to stay composed when down or in late game situations while finding ways to push themselves over the top.
Jaland Lowe, whose development as a shot-maker while running the offense has played as big of a role as any in Pitt's turnaround this season, mentioned the importance of simply trying to find ways to help the team earn a victory on any given night in reference to his maturity as a true freshman.
"Just trying to be the best version of myself for the team so we can win," Lowe said. "I try to do anything I can to help us win."
Lowe also discussed the importance of the team moving on from a bad loss and understanding what it takes to get back to playing their brand of basketball moving forward.
"We knew it wasn’t pretty," Lowe said. "We knew that we didn’t play our style of basketball or how we wanted to play, so we just - it’s a sign of maturity. You’ve got to move on, get back to how we play, and I think we did a great job of that tonight."
It would've been easy for the Panthers to enter their game against Virginia Tech defeated and let the negative effects of the Wake Forest loss pile up, but the team's grounded approach and courage helped them nip it in the bud before it reached that level.
As Pitt continues to click and the members of its rotation continue to thrive in their individual roles, there's no telling what this team can accomplish down the stretch. Its position in both the ACC standings and on the NCAA Tournament bubble rest in its own hands, and there are plenty of places to derive optimism from following a gutsy performance against Virginia Tech.
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