Pitt Searching for Answers to First Half Struggles

The first half has been a puzzle the Pitt Panthers can't crack as of late.

PITTSBURGH -- Halftime has been the Pitt Panthers' best friend for the past week. Behind their three-game winning streak is a +57 point differential in the second half - a trend that's fueled their blowout victories. 

On one hand, the Panthers' outstanding second half efforts are an encouraging sign that this team gets better with time. But watching them play so well makes you wonder why such sterling second halves are necessary to pull out wins over the likes of Alabama State, Fairleigh Dickinson and William & Mary. 

Pitt head coach Jeff Capel doesn't have answers yet but knows he'll need to find some before the Panthers meet a tough part of their schedule that includes three games - two of which come on the road - against high major opponents.  

"I wish I could tell you, I really do," Capel said. "It's frustrating. It is. I don't know if there's something we need to do, change warmups or something, but we have to search and figure it out because I know that as we move forward, the competition increases, ... and if you dig yourself a hole in these next three games that we're going to play, it's going to be very difficult to get out of them."

There were some strategic adjustments the Panthers made that led to their improved showing after intermission. Capel said they were mostly better on defense thanks to a change in how they defended ball screens and found better ways to get star forward John Hugley involved on offense. 

"In the second half, we were obviously much better defensively," Capel said. "We were able to string together some stops, thought our ball pressure was a little bit better. Ball screen coverage was better, our rotations were better. That allowed us to get out in transition. We were able to establish John inside in the second half and he scored and made some great passes. But I just thought that it was a much better effort in the second half for us."

But most of all, the Panthers simply played with better focus and energy, particularly on defense. They stopped missing back door cuts on both ends and cut down on turnovers. The struggles in the first half was a wake-up call, according to Capel. 

"I think our antenna was up a little bit more because we did get beat on those cuts," Capel said. "In the first half, we were going for shot fakes on non-shooters. We come down and score and don't get back. Their best shooter hits a three right in transition because we don't get right back to him. It was frustrating but we were able to come out and make some adjustments in the second half and do a better job."

It's something starting forward Blake Hinson attributed to attention to detail. He said once this team is able to come out of the gates with that kind of play, they'll look better, like the team they believe they are. 

"I think more energy and more concentration," Hinson said. "Me personally, I had two mistakes in the first half and it just simply came from less focus and less talk and then using the second half as a team, as a unit, we picked it up. If we just learn how to do that in the first half, I think we'll be just fine.”

Pitt's played three games in six days, something that might have led to the slow starts. But Hinson brushed that off when asked if fatigued played a role and affirmed that this team would figure out what's been missing. 

"I would hope not," Hinson said. "It's basketball. This is what we want to do. But I think we're going to figure it out."

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