Speed, versatility again was key vs. North Carolina
A single second had yet to elapse in Pitt’s game Saturday against North Carolina at Petersen Events Center, but as the two teams took to the court, what the Panthers planned to do became that much clearer, at least to them.
The Tar Heels, down two of their top five scorers, brought out a starting lineup in which three players were 6 feet 8 or taller. Pitt, not gifted with the same level of size, countered with only one player taller than 6-6. What the Panthers had learned 10 days earlier in a 73-65 victory at North Carolina was going to be applied again — if they were, yet again, going to walk away with a win, it was going to be because they again used their speed and versatility to create mismatches and best a taller opponent.
It worked. In a 66-52 win Saturday at the Petersen Events Center, Pitt used an offensive surge in the first half to create a 20-point gap going into halftime from which its opponent would be unable to recover.
That offense excelled in a way it hasn’t all season, at least not against an ACC foe, by forcing turnovers, yes, but also by spacing out North Carolina and making its bigger players defend against shorter, quicker opponents.
“I think we did a really good job of spacing the floor and spacing them out, making their big guys have to do a better job on the pick and roll,” Pitt guard Ryan Murphy said. “Trey [McGowens] and [Xavier Johnson], they’re tough to guard in the pick and roll.”
The Panthers were buoyed by uncommonly good 3-point shooting for them in the first half, when they made 6 of 15 shots from deep. Beyond capitalizing on those looks, though, there were several moments in which the Tar Heels — one of the 30 tallest teams in Division I, one that ranks among the top 50 teams in percentage of points from inside the arc — were stretched thin.
In many of these instances, there wasn’t a single Pitt player occupying the paint, even with someone as long as 6-10 Terrell Brown in the game. It came after a bit of a push against North Carolina’s Andrew Platek, but Justin Champagnie was able to find some open space near the corner in the first half and get an open shot he drilled.
About midway through the half, as Johnson held the ball at the midcourt logo, there was nobody in the paint and just four players below the top of the key. Part of that was due to a high ball screen from Eric Hamilton, which forced his defender, Armando Bacot, to follow him far out from the basket, but it opened up room for Johnson to drive to the basket, though he missed a floater.
Later in the half, Johnson was put in a similar position, albeit with Brown setting the screen this time, and converted the layup, with the players who would usually block or contest such an attempt drawn far away from the basket.
“I think we did a really good job of spacing the floor and spacing them out, making their big guys have to do a better job on the pick and roll.”
— Pitt guard Ryan Murphy
“It was a big emphasis,” Johnson said. “We’re a fastbreaking team. They have two bigs. We were trying to make them guard.”
Pitt’s larger margin of victory and relative ease in beating North Carolina in their second matchup easily could be tied to the difference between playing on the road and at home. A bigger factor, however, was the presence of Au’Diese Toney, a sophomore forward who missed the first game with an elbow injury.
Toney is not only one of the team’s best defenders, but also one of the most versatile, allowing him to play on any number of North Carolina players, from 6-5 Brandon Robinson to 6-10 Bacot. In a game in which foul trouble limited Champagnie to just 15 minutes, depriving the Panthers of one of their best and most flexible players, Toney’s availability became that much more valuable.
“We can slide him down and we can move someone else in,” coach Jeff Capel said. “We can put him on a Robinson and feel like he can do a good job. We can put him on a Bacot or Brooks and feel like he’ll fight and he can do a good job. He has experience. He does nice things for us. It’s great to have him back.”
Offensively, he helped Pitt get off to its fast start, scoring six points in the first 6:47 to give his team a 14-7 lead. In the process, he showed off moves and shots that he hasn’t often this season.
The difference in the offense in the first half and the second was severe, though. As excellent as the Panthers were in building a lead as large as 23 in the first half, they stumbled in the final 20 minutes and were fortunate
North Carolina was never able to get closer than 10 points.
The Tar Heels spent much of the second half in a zone, which Capel said forced his team to play “a little bit safe.” It’s a look against which Pitt continues to struggle. With a game at Syracuse in six days and with other opponents who might employ such a scheme left on the schedule, it’s something against which the Panthers are going to have to improve.
“It made us think and we couldn’t get into the same rhythm that we had,” Capel said.