New faces are key for Panthers
Two regulars benched as Pitt wins with deciding run in second half
The previous time Pitt started a season with one win inits opening four games was the 2017-18 campaign, when Kevin Stallings’ squad went 8-24overall and winless in the ACC. Jeff Capel’s Panthers avoided a dreadful 1-3 start of their own on Friday night.
Pitt eked out a 63-59 win over Towson, a team picked in the preseason to finish eighth out of 10 programs in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Panthers are 2-2 on the season after finding a rhythm with a collection of contributors.
John Hugley, Pitt’s leading scorer at 19 points per game in Pitt’s first three contests, was benched early in the second half. The big man was subbed out two minutes after halftime along with starting guard Femi Odukale. Hugley finished with seven points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
“The body language wasn’t good from those guys. It just wasn’t,” Capel said. “It’s not our standard. We’re not deviating from that no matter who it is.”
In their absence — Hugley was never subbed back on while Odukale came in with five minutes to go — others stepped up. Texas Tech transfer Jamarius Burton overcame an 0 for 4 start to hit a couple jumpers and lead Pitt on an 11-2 second-half run.
William Jeffress logged seven points, six rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes. Noah Collier was active around the rim, giving Pitt seven points in21 minutes.
Pitt’s biggest revelation was Nate Santos scoring a team-high 14 points and adding eight rebounds. In Pitt’s three previous games, the freshman guard combined for 16 points. But Santos hit four 3s and tacked on a pair of free throws with 26.5 seconds to go, securing Pitt’s much needed win.
“His progression has had to be sped up because of the situations that we’ve been in,” Capel said of Santos, referencing Nike Sibande’s season-ending injury and Ithiel Horton’s indefinite suspension from the team. “... To step to the line in his fourth game, his first free throws down the stretch, and make two big free throws, we have a lot of confidence in Nate. And I think he’s going to continue to get better.”
Rough start
The loudest first-half applause from the Petersen Events Center crowd came when the opening 20 minutes were over. It was then that the Pitt volleyball result, a four-set win for the No. 3 Panthers at No. 13 Georgia Tech, was announced over the speakers.
To that point, those who showed up didn’t have much else to cheer about.
The Panthers trailed at the break, 29-26. Pitt had two separate five-minute stints without a made bucket. It shot only 32% from the field, buoyed only by Santos’ three first-half 3s. Then, there was an injury scare for Odukale.
Pitt’s starting guard went down with an apparent ankle injury with seven minutes to go in the first half. Odukale, accompanied by a team trainer, went to the locker room. He later emerged and finished out the first half’s final two minutes.
And despite a 13-minute spell on the bench in the second half, Odukale was depended on down the stretch. The sophomore hit a goahead 3-pointer with 2:22 left in regulation. His only field goal of the game gave Pitt a 58-55 advantage it didn’t surrender.
“That was a big moment for us,” Jeffress said. “That really uplifted our spirits.”
Stat that mattered
Towson shot only 30.8% from the field after the under16 media timeout, hitting 8 of 26 attempts. The Tigers scored two points in the fiveand-a-half minutes immediately following the stoppage, allowing Pitt to claw back from down 37-30 to a 41-29 lead.
“I thought our defensive energy from the 16-minute mark of the second half on was outstanding,” Capel said.
Familiar face
Towson coach Pat Skerry sat down for his press conference and quipped, “Hail to Pitt, right?”
Skerry is a former Pitt assistant, serving on Jamie Dixon’s staff during the 201011campaign in which the Panthers went 28-6, won the regular season Big East title and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
“I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in if I wasn’t fortunate enough to work at Pitt under Coach Dixon. ... So any time I can come back here is an awesome feeling,” Skerry said. “The building looks great. The improvements look great. The student section, the Oakland Zoo, is always tough. I have nothing but great memories.”
Up next
Pitt hosts Vanderbilt next Wednesday in a matchup that could be equally as ugly. The Commodores, picked to finish second-to-lastin the SEC’s preseason media poll, are 2-1. But most recently, Vanderbilt mustered only 37 points in a loss to VCU this week.
The game will tip off at 9 p.m. and air on the ACC Network.