Healthy inside players in short supply for Pitt

especially Mike, who is less than 100 percent, that hurts. If you don’t have other guys who step up or play to their capabilities, you can’t win in the league that way. The league is too good. The teams are too good. Everybody is going to have to do their part.”

With a thin and uneven roster — one that makes it possible for Pitt to have the ACC’s top two scorers but a 1-4 mark in conference play — the loss of Luther and a limited Young take a particularly devastating toll, something witnessed Saturday as the Panthers were blown out by Miami, 72-46, their most lopsided loss in Petersen Events Center history.

Luther, who has a stress reaction in his right foot, will be out at least the next couple of weeks, until the pain begins to subside. Young has seen the swelling around his eye due to a fracture in his orbital bone decrease considerably, according to Stallings. The ACC’s second-leading scorer played poorly against the Hurricanes, scoring a season-low two points while wearing a clunky mask that limited his vision. He has been fitted for a custom mask Stallings hopes will be ready by tonight.

Those ailments will play crucial roles in the coming weeks for a team with just three forwards averaging more than five minutes per game, particularly given Pitt’s defensive shortcomings.

Of all the shots attempted against the Panthers, 38.4 percent of them have come at the rim, according to data from hoopmath.com, the secondhighest mark of any ACC team. Opponents have made 59.9 percent of those field goals, fourth highest in the conference.

In five ACC games, they have allowed point guards to average 17.6 points per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field. In that five-game stretch, Pitt blocked just 6.7 percent of 2point attempts, the secondworst mark in the ACC.

Against Smith, those numbers will be more problematic.

This freshman phenom from Fayetteville, N.C., is averaging 19.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, routinely flashing the speed, athleticism and skill that have pushed him up mock draft boards. Of his shots, 36.6 percent have come at the rim, and he has made 67.1 percent of those attempts.

“We’re going to try to be who we are,” N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said of Smith’s potential effectiveness against Pitt’s depleted frontcourt.

“Dennis is so good at getting to the rim regardless. That’s a strength of his. He’s shown it all year on. Regardless of who they put in the game or who they have in the game, we’re going to try to play the way we want to play offensively. Dennis will be a big part of that.”

The quest to stop Smith might not be a fruitless one. Earlier this season, for instance, the Panthers held Maryland star point guard Melo Trimble to 13 points on 13 shots in a 73-59 road victory, a game in which the Terrapins shot just 34.4 percent.

Part of that success was due to a change in scheme, with Pitt abandoning its switching man defense in favor of a zone for long stretches. With their available options stretched thin, Stallings and his staff continue to search for ways to maximize the effectiveness of a beleaguered roster.

“There are a couple of different ways we can go,” Stallings said.

“We can try to play one of the post guys who haven’t played much, we can bring a guard off the bench and maybe move Jamel [Artis] down and put him at the four spot.”