Hurricanes earn top seed
3-pointers, while starter Jordan Miller added 17 points. Norchad Omier also made a big impact, tallying 15 points and13 rebounds off the bench.
“The guy that really hurt us was Poplar,” Capel said. “Congrats to him. You can tell he’s been working on his game. He made some big plays tonight.”
Hinson was Pitt’s leading scorer, finishing with 24 points. Sibande, Burton and Cummings all finished in double figures, as well, scoring 16, 13and 10, respectively.
The victory earned the Hurricanes a share of the ACC regular-season title with No. 13 Virginia. Miami also earned the top seed for the ACC tournament.
Key stat
Dominance down low made the difference for Jim Larranaga’s team.
Miami delivered a strong presence on the glass, outrebounding Pitt 42-19. Fourteen of those boards came on the offensive end, leading to 25 second-chance-points.
“They dominated the glass,” Capel said. “They made us pay just about every time they got offensive rebounds. They got loose balls. They made plays.”
Miami finished with 30 points in the paint, 20 of which were scored in the opening half.
Quotable
Capel was the only member of the Pitt basketball program to speak following Saturday’s loss. He explained why while delivering his opening remarks.
“I’m proud of my team,” Capel said. “They’re in there hurting. I made the decision to just for me to come out here because they’re hurting. Iwant them to be able to be by themselves, to be with each other and to deal with the emotions that they have, that we have from losing this game.”
With the regular season over, Capel took time to evaluate his group’s 31-game journey, saying his team found a rhythm while also admitting it cooled off at an in opportune time.
“I thought we did a really good job during the first part of the season,” Capel said. “We didn’t close it the way we wanted to, but now we head into the second segment of the season and hopefully we can learn from all the things that we’ve been through and be better.”
Capel believes throughout his team’s rise this winter, the collective whole improved, which makes him excited for the postseason.
“I think our whole team has grown from the start of the season,” he said. “They want to be really good. They want to be a part of something. It’s great being around them and I’m excited to be around them more.”
Following its back-to-back losses to finish the regular season, Pitt will almost certainly be back on the bubble with Selection Sunday only a week away. When the PostGazette asked Capel if he felt his team achieved enough in the regular season to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, his answer was shortand simple. “I do.”
Up next
The Panthers will look to give one last boost to their NCAA tournament resume as they hit the road to Greensboro, N.C., for the ACC tournament. As the No. 5 seed in the tournament, Pitt will play its first game 2:30 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of No. 12-seeded Florida State and No. 13-seeded Georgia Tech. The game will be televised on ESPN. If Pitt can win that matchup, it will advance to play 4-seeded Duke in the quarterfinals 2:30 p.m. Thursday.