Florida State engulfs slipping Panthers
Steady Seminoles a notch above Pitt
Whether it was last year after an 82-67 loss or in the moments Saturday after a 79-72 setback, Pitt coach Jeff Capel’s assessment of Florida State is consistent. It’s a team, he’ll say, that come sat you in waves. That’s certainly one way of putting it. For years, the
Seminoles have been one of the most talented, athletic teams in one of college basketball’s most talented, athletic conferences, offering the kind of sheer size and physicality that can make
adversaries feel at times like they’re getting engulfed by, yes,a wave.
In a seven-point victory against the Panthers at Petersen Events Center, Florida State showed just how effective and potent that canbe.
Though the final score was relatively close, the product of a resilient effort from Pitt that ultimately came up short, the No. 16ranked Seminoles overpowered and outlasted their opponent. Nine of the 10 Florida State players who saw the court Saturday finished with at least four points, four of whom had at least 11 in a game in which their team scored 79 points on 69 possessions. It reached that impressive mark despite leading scorer M.J. Walker being held scoreless, missing all five of his shot attempts while playing through an injury that took him out of his customary rhythm. His team overcame that with 33 bench points, compared to nine for Pitt, highlighting the sheer amount of depth it possesses.
Against a short-handed Pitt team playing without guard/forward Au’Diese Toney, the Panthers’ secondleading scorer and rebounder who missed the game after suffering a concussion Thursday, the Seminoles’ inherent advantages wereobvious.
Their average starter stood a full 2 inches taller than Pitt’s average starter. What came off the bench might have been even more imposing.
There was 6-foot-9 guard Scottie Barnes, a standout freshman and projected NBA draft lottery pick who had 11 points, 6 rebounds
and 3 assists. There was center Balsa Koprivica, who, at 7-1, stood 3 inches taller than anyone on Pitt’s team. He finished the game with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting. LikeCapel said, waves. “They wore us down,” Capel said. “That’s what they do. That’s what Florida State does. They come at you in waves. They have these big, huge, athletic guys they just keep sending in. Their style of play, with the way they pressure the ball constantly, take passes away, they’re very, very physical. I thought they wore us down.”
Florida State’s like few, if any, teams Pitt will play, even in the deep and competitive ACC. It’s the kind of reality that was epitomized in selectmoments.
With about 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Xavier Johnson came off a screen and pulled up for a 3pointer. From seemingly out of nowhere, Barnes rushed in, swatted his shot away and got a layup on the
other end while being fouled, taking a lead that could have shrunk to four and instead extended it to 10. On the Panthers’ second possession in the second half, center Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, off of a crafty feed from a teammate, went up for a layup only to have RaiQuan Gray come in and pin it against the backboard. Then, in the final three minutes and with Florida State up by eight, Barnes got the ball at the edge of the midcourt logo and, with five seconds left on the shot clock, drove by Johnson and the rest of Pitt’s team for an emphatic dunk.
That’s what the Seminoles do, though. Against them, what seems like an open shot, whether it’s from the top of the key or under the basket, isn’t and a possession that seems stifled ends witha thunderous jam.
It doesn’t make a loss any easier, but it makes it more understandable.
“Everybody in the locker
room knew we could compete in that game,” said guard Nike Sibande, who started in Toney’s absence and finished with a seasonhigh 12 points. “We knew we were supposed to be there. We knew there was a good chance of us winning. Everybody was upset. But I feel like all we’ve got to do is stay together and just keep pushing and fighting together. As long as we don’t give up, we’ll have bright days ahead.”
Despite all of the factors working against it, Pitt had its chances.
Battling against such a long, athletic opponent, the Panthers struggled near the rim, making only 15 of 29 shots at the rim. They didn’t struggle to get there, but there were too many drives when the ball was a fraction of an inch off, denying them of precious points in a game in which they trailed by four with 45 seconds remaining.
Faced with what seemed like a mismatch on paper,
Pitt turned what looked like a potential blowout early into a competitive game.
The loss was Pitt’s seventh in its past eight games, sending it to .500 not even a full month after it was 8-2.
This most recent setback wasn’t exactly discouraging. Without arguably its best two-way player, it stayed close for extended stretches with a top-20 team five days removed from obliterating Virginia, the ACC’s first-place squad, by 21. If nothing else, it was a sign that things may not be quite as bad as they seem right now, even if that only offers so much solace.
“We did some good things,” Capel said. “Obviously, it’s not good enough. There are no moral victories for us. We want to win the basketball game and thought we had a chance to.”