New-look Pitt battles N.C. State to end, still loses

Mar. 1—Jeff Capel paused briefly and looked to the ceiling to consider the question. He wanted to make his answer clear, with no room for misinterpretation.

"What seemed different about your team, compared to what you had seen from them and what it had been over the past several weeks?"

The question was an appropriate one, considering it was asked after Pitt's 65-62 loss to N.C. State on Sunday in Raleigh, N.C., its first game after the late-season departures of starters Xavier Johnson and Au'Diese Toney.

"Not sure much has been different," he said, apparently also referring to the practices that preceded the game. "We lost the game, which we have a lot over the past few weeks."

The Panthers lost games by narrow margins with Johnson and Toney. For at least a game, the same is true without them.

Pitt has lost eight of its past nine games (five in a row), a repeat of its previous three February/March swoons (6-24 combined), and the average margin of defeat in six of the eight this season is barely four points.

"We've been in a position where we had a chance to win," Capel said. "We just hadn't done the things necessary to earn the right to win. So, I don't see anything different, except we missed free throws and we turned the basketball over."

Pitt's biggest problem was shooting a season-low 23% (7 of 30) in the first half, leading to a 31-21 deficit at intermission.

"That's been one thing that's been consistent," Capel said. "In the first half, we got the ball right there at the basket several times and we didn't finish. We have to be able to finish those plays."

The Panthers (9-10, 5-9 ACC) outplayed N.C. State (12-9, 8-8) in the second half. Four times, Pitt cut the lead to three points after the Wolfpack led by 14 with 14 minutes, 41 seconds left.

—First, with 9:06 left, on a transition 3 by freshman William Jeffress (only his third 3-pointer of the season).

—Then, with 6:22 to play, on a layup by senior Terrell Brown, who was on his way to his first career double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds).

—Again, with 4:51 to play, on two free throws by Justin Champagnie, who recorded his 12th double-double of the season (15-12).

—Finally, with 13 seconds to play, freshman Femi Odukale, who entered the game as a 45.7% free-throw shooter, hit two from the foul line.

Before that, however, the lead was back to four, 60-56, with 59 seconds left, when Jeffress missed two free throws. Entering the game, the 17-year-old Jeffress had tried only eight free throws, making four.

Jeffress only scored the three points, but Capel praised his defensive work on N.C. State's Jericole Hellems, who missed eight of 13 shots.

Twenty seconds after Jeffress' misses, senior Nike Sibande missed two more free throws, and Pitt's best chance for victory vanished.

After the game, Capel referred to the Pitt players as "my guys" — as in "my guys fought, really proud of them for that."

"I've said it over and over. I feel positive and strong about the future of our program because we were doing this with young guys out there and they put us in a position where we had a chance to win."

Odukale played 38 minutes at point guard, scoring a team-high 18 points, handing out five assists and grabbing five rebounds, with only one turnover. Capel described Odukale's play as "terrific."

"Not surprised by that," he said. "I think he's a really good player. Femi has played well for us all year."

Capel said the roster adjustments had nothing to do with what happened in the first half. He said the seven-day layoff after the Florida State game Feb. 20 was to blame.

"(The slow start) had more to do with the rust of not playing than it had to do with anything else," he said.

After the game, Brown said the players weren't surprised by the departures of Johnson and Toney. Odukale thought otherwise, saying "everbody was surprised."

"But you can't look at that," Odukale said. "You just have to keep going. Nothing feels different. We're still family. We're still together."

Bottom line: Brown admitted the team "had a tough week."

"Coach still challenged us," he said. "He believes, and we believe in our goals."

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .