Pitt men’s basketball fed off an energetic Oakland Zoo to put on a defensive showcase in a 73-65 win over North Carolina. The Panthers held the Tar Heels to 21 points in the second half — a season low in any half for North Carolina.
After losing four straight games to ACC opponents, the Panthers built on their weekend win against Syracuse and are winners of two straight games. Four Panthers reached double figures, including sophomore guard Jaland Lowe leading the way with 18 points.
According to ESPN’s Bracketology, Pitt was projected to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament as one of the “last four byes” and North Carolina was projected as one of the “last four in.” Had the Panthers fallen at home to the Tar Heels, their chances of receiving an invitation in March likely would have plummeted. But the Panthers triumphed, and they remain alive.
Zack Austin is an invaluable player.
Redshirt senior forward Zack Austin does everything he’s asked and more. The High Point transfer defends the opponent’s best player every game, knocks down catch-and-shoot three-pointers — especially in crunch time — and brings the home crowd back into every game.
Austin recorded five blocks against North Carolina and highly contested plenty of other Tar Heels shot attempts. Austin’s 1.75 blocks per game is the highest rate in the ACC. Austin does this while standing at 6 feet 6 inches, four inches shorter than NC State’s Ben Middlebrooks who has the second-most blocks in the ACC.
On the other side of the ball, Austin has made 37 three-pointers on the season. While this amount is just shy of getting on the NCAA leaderboards, Austin’s efficiency of 41.6% from deep would rank as the 46th best in Division I.
Most importantly, Austin leads the Panthers in an incalculable statistic — vibes. When the Oakland Zoo gets quiet and Pitt’s offense operates without rhythm or momentum, Austin finds a way to wake everyone up.
It might look like a two-handed dunk where he takes off just past the free-throw line, a step-back three-pointer in the corner or a block so emphatic the basketball disappears. Austin executed all forms against North Carolina and the ensuing energy from the crowd was invaluable in the win.
Capel may have found something to lean on going forward
Pitt gave up 44 points in the first half, including six three-pointers on 13 attempts from the Tar Heels. Heading into halftime trailing by two, the Panthers needed to adjust their defense.
According to Austin and head coach Jeff Capel, the change was to “switch” on every screen. When teams decide to switch on ball screens, communication and having bigs who can guard on the perimeter are key.
Junior forwards Cameron Corhen, Guillermo Diaz Graham and Jorge Diaz Graham — who rarely guard opposing players on the perimeter — were tasked with switching onto faster guards.
“They did a really good job, especially in the second half,” Capel said after the win. “Cam [Corhen] was unbelievable — to sit down and guard R.J. Davis and make him take contest shots. G[uillermo Diaz Graham] had a big, big one where he switched out. Sat down and used his length, spaced him, but was able to contest the shot. Jorge [Diaz Graham] did it in the first half. [North Carolina] made a tough shot on him, but it was outstanding defense.”
More importantly than excelling against the Tar Heels, Capel might get inspired by his frontcourt’s perimeter defense and could use it going forward.
“That’s something we may look at going forward — just looking to switch everything to stay out of rotations,” Capel said. “They had us in rotations in the first half.”
Another win for coaches everywhere — taking care of the basketball wins games
The Panthers couldn’t stop turning the ball over during their previous loss streak. They only turned it over three times in the first half and zero in the second half to break the spell against Syracuse, while the Orange turned it over 11 times. Despite a large positive gap in the turnover margin, a large negative gap in the rebounding margin let Pitt only win by four.
The story was similar to the win against North Carolina. Pitt turned the ball over six times while the Tar Heels turned the ball over 14 times leading to 22 points. Although the Panthers were out-rebounded 38-28, those turnovers and easy points in transition were enough to overcome an allergy to the glass and leave the Pete with an eight-point win.
It’s an axiom kids hear in their first basketball practice — take care of the basketball. It rings true at every level of basketball. Players are expected to make around half their field goal attempts and just over a third of the attempts from deep. If they waste possessions by turning the ball over, how will they get the misses out of their system? If Pitt can continue to protect the ball, it can march into the madness of the NCAA Tournament.
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