Analysis: With big victory in the past and 11 games to go, Pitt needs to keep intensity high

North Carolina seized more rebounds and made more shots from the field.

Pitt played nearly seven minutes without recording a basket, and its two most important players — Jaland Lowe and Ishmael Leggett — played the entire second half without scoring (aside from free throws).

So how did Pitt defeat North Carolina on Tuesday night in front of the largest crowd (11,277) of the season at Petersen Events Center?

Answer: It had less to do with NIL money and four- and five-star caliber players and everything to do with effort.

“Playing each possession like it was our last,” Lowe said.

It also was a product of coach Jeff Capel and his staff recruiting the right people, and getting them ready — physically and mentally — and able to adjust when the opponent throws a curveball. And — here’s one of the biggest reasons — procuring players willing to get their knees skinned up occasionally diving on the floor after loose balls.

“Just playing with more intensity,” Lowe said. “That’s what we have to get back to. That’s our roots. We just had each other’s back. We were just fighting. If we have that mindset every time, we’ll win a lot of games.”

Pitt was outrebounded 38-28 but scored 10 second-chance points. Those are points gained by physically securing position in the paint, grabbing a rebound and putting it back. It doesn’t take a McDonald’s All-American to do that. You have to want to do it. Similar to how the acrobatic Zack Austin and Cam Corhen played around the basket.

Also, Capel assigning big men Guillermo Diaz Graham and Corhen to the perimeter of the defense kept Tar Heels All-American guard R.J. Davis from taking over the game. It was only 10 months ago that Davis scored 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting to beat Pitt, 72-65, in an ACC Tournament semifinal game. Tuesday, Davis scored 16 on 6-of-12 shooting (much of it contested), and his effect on the game was seriously curtailed.

No surprise the score was nearly reversed: 73-65, Pitt.

“I don’t know if it’s maturity or we’re just learning,” Capel said. “We’re understanding what it takes to win. We don’t take that for granted. We’re going to keep showing them, keep teaching them and, hopefully, we keep getting better.”

Which brings up another point: Pitt is a long way from a polished product.

The competition does ease off a bit in the second half of the conference season — No Duke, No Clemson, No Florida State — but there are four road games that look to be Quad 1 opportunities.

• The first is Saturday at Wake Forest, ranked 71st in the NCAA NET.

• Then, it’s a Tar Heels rematch in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Feb. 8, followed by a visit to Dallas to meet SMU on Feb. 11. North Carolina and SMU are Nos. 42 and 43 in the NET.

• Take care of business in those games and, perhaps, the outcome at No. 25 Louisville on March 1 won’t matter as much.

Of course, we’re leaving out the obvious here: There are seven other games against lesser foes, the most challenging of which are at No 90 Notre Dame and No. 110 N.C. State. The Irish have won three of their past four, and N.C. State made Duke sweat at home Monday night before losing 74-64.

So far, Pitt has won every game against lesser foes (13-0 against Quad 2s, 3s and 4s).

With a No. 34 NET ranking, Pitt is — at worst — a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament. But there are 11 games left before the ACC Tournament, and Pitt (14-6, 5-4) needs to keep chasing those loose balls to win the majority of them. A 6-5 record might be good enough, but the players’ motto this season is “leave no doubt.”

Players should know the four-game losing streak reduces Pitt’s margin for error.

Lowe, only a sophomore, understands more than most 20-year-olds the basics of what’s necessary for Pitt to experience the postseason.

“Mainly just having each other’s back,” he said, “talking, communicating, playing harder.”