Panthers fall into defensive trap
Pitt men’s basketball fell into the trap that Virginia Tech set in its 79-72 loss Saturday at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va. The Panthers fell to 19-8, 12-4 in the ACC and dropped to second place in the conference to a Hokies team that’s now 16-11, 6-10 in the conference.
But how did it happen?
Good (for Virginia Tech)
The Hokies made 9 of 19 3pointers against Pitt, which was uncharacteristic for a team that’s shot 35.1% on the season. Virginia Tech has been one of the best field goal shooting teams in the ACC all season with a 47.2% mark on the year that’s second-best in the conference.
But that gets even harder to overcome when the Hokies are able to hit their deep shots. Grant Basille led Virginia Tech with 22 points, making four of his eight 3pointers, while Hunter Catoor made three of his four 3-pointers as part of his 12 points on the game.
“They’re a really good offensive basketball team,” Jeff Capel said. “They have four guys who can shoot 3s. They had us chasing all afternoon with their movement. We didn’t do a good job communicating at times, but man, all the credit goes to them for executing their stuff.”
Part of what worked to make that happen was Virginia Tech’s plan to disrupt Pitt’s defensive scheme with off-ball screens that forced late switches and allowed more open looks.
“They set a lot of off-ball screens,” Pitt guard Nelly Cummings said after the game. “We didn’t communicate on some of those and we got mixed up on those times. We didn’t switch when we needed to today.”
It was a good day for Virginia Tech, which added Pitt to a list of other top ACC teams that have lost at Cassell Coliseum, joining the likes of Duke, Miami and Virginia.
Bad
Pitt never got into a rhythm for its 3-point shooting game plan. The Panthers did shoot well inside the perimeter, but having to rely on that style of basketball has not been their forte.
Coming into Saturday, Pitt’s 246 made 3-pointers led the ACC by a decent margin of 11 over Notre Dame and Wake Forest. Against Virginia Tech, Pitt only made 3 of 18 3-pointers.
That’s the least amount of 3-pointers they’ve made on the season, the secondleast taken on the game, and the 17% shooting percentage from deep was the lowest this year. Part of that was certainly Virginia Tech’s coach Mike Young and his plan to disrupt Pitt’s outside shooting rhythm that has carried it for most of the season.
“They made a concerted effort to guard the 3-point line,” Capel said. “They didn’t switch as much and they stuck with our shooters more and didn’t help. That’s why we got more rolls and drives to the basket.”
Pitt has survived tough contests before when it’s not been able to get its 3-pointers to control the pace of the game. In fact, the Panthers are 8- 5 when the team makes fewer than 10 3pointers in a game, with big wins against tough opponents like Virginia, Miami, North Carolina State, and North Carolina (twice).
“They did a great job being there on the catch,” Pitt guard Jamarius Burton said of Virginia Tech’s defense. “They did a really good job sticking to their scouting report of us. We tip our hat off to them.”
But there’s no doubt that when Pitt is hitting for volume from deep, even if it’s not that high of a shooting percentage, the Panthers are in their element. When they make 10 or more 3pointers, Pitt is 11-3, and that includes four games when the Panthers have shot below their season’s mark of 36.2% on 3-pointers.
Ugly
There was no doubt that Saturday was an ugly basketball game. Pitt was called for 24 fouls, and Virginia Tech was called for 20. The pace of the game dragged with each possession, and it definitely caused frustration for the Panthers.
“We try our best not to foul so that we can get going in transition after stops,” Burton said. “It also makes us play with different matchups and rotations for an extended amount of times. We tried to weather the storm, but it was continuous with the fouls. We tip our hat to them, we just have to get back to the drawing board.”
Pitt hasn’t been a team that’s been able to manage being in serious foul trouble this season, especially with three scholarship players unavailable in John Hugley IV, William Jeffress and Dior Johnson all unavailable.
When the Panthers have at least 19 personal fouls in a game, they’re now 4-5 on the season, while they’re 15-3 when they stay under that mark.
“Foul trouble always hurts rhythm,” Cummings said. “It forced us into certain lineups we had to play that we weren’t used to before today.”
What was apparent to go along with the fouls was how the frustration of the game’s slowed pace, along with the loud and energetic environment, got the best of Pitt’s players.
Pitt only has two road games left against Notre Dame and Miami before the ACC tournament. The Panthers have to find a way to keep their in-game frustrations in check before it boils over and contributes to more losses as they try to finish what’s been a very strong season for the program.