It does not take rose-colored glasses to see Pitt wasn’t too far off from starting ACC play 2-0.
Instead, behind a 76-69 loss to Miami and a 73-68 defeat to Clemson, Pitt (7-8, 0-2) is winless as Syracuse (9-5, 0-1) visits Petersen Events Center on Saturday.
Two close losses following a largely disappointing nonconference slate have frustrated coach Jeff Capel but offered doses of encouragement.
“We’ve shown that we can be good in spurts, but that’s not what we’re here for,” Capel said. “We’re here to be a good basketball team.”
Along similar lines, the Panthers held leads in both contests, only to crumble down the stretch. That has been a source of disappointment for Capel while also inspiring hope his team can build upon those performances.
Coming off a 34-point thumping of Penn State on Dec. 21, Pitt traveled to Miami nine days later for the ACC opener against the Hurricanes.
By halftime, the Panthers were up 43-33. But less than six minutes into the second half, the lead had disappeared.
Though the Panthers hung around, retaking the lead several times, with about six minutes to play Miami took a lead it would not relinquish.
Pitt again led at halftime against Clemson last Saturday but couldn’t get the necessary stops or establish sufficient offensive momentum to push through.
The last time the Panthers were within one basket in the contest came at the 4:35 mark of the second half, from which point Clemson managed to keep Pitt at arm’s length.
“We have to have the competitive stamina and discipline throughout a 40-minute game,” Capel said. “It can’t just be for 38 minutes, 36 minutes, 35 minutes.
“We have to be able to have the competitive stamina and discipline throughout games. These two league games that we’ve had, we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve had an opportunity to win.
“But whether it’s a missed blockout, a missed defensive assignment, sometimes you miss an open shot or miss a free throw, things like that, we have to be better in those situations and have the discipline and stamina to be able to fight through that.”
Part of a basketball coach’s existence is living with missed shots. Underachieving from the free-throw line is another matter, one that’s hurt Pitt all year.
Through 15 games, Pitt ranks 16th out of 18 ACC teams in free-throw shooting (68%).
In the seven-point loss to Miami, Pitt shot 9 of 17 from the free-throw line. Against Clemson, six free throws (16 of 22) were missed in the five-point defeat.
Only Damarco Minor (89.2%) and Barry Dunning Jr. (88.2%) have been lights-out free-throw shooters.
Brandin Cummings has shot 77.1%, but behind him, Cam Corhen (64.1%), Omari Witherspoon (61.5%) and Nojus Indrusaitis (56.5%) have left their fair share of points on the table.
Freshman Roman Siulepa has hit only 43.9% (18 of 41) of his attempts.
Of course, free-throw woes are far from the overarching issue that has plagued Pitt.
Capel continues to lament missed layups, an ACC-worst 35 team rebounds per game, mental mistakes and botched defensive assignments.
Making matters more difficult is the thin roster and bench Capel’s had to work with as a result of season-ending injuries to center Dishon Jackson and forward Papa Amadou Kante on top of forward Amdy Ndiaye’s departure from the program.
With seven days between games, Capel has approached this week as a time to rest and recalibrate ahead of the Orange’s arrival Saturday.
When tipoff arrives, Capel will remain hopeful that his players are ready to put forth a complete effort and secure their first conference win of the season.
“What gives me hope is that we’ve played two really good (ACC) teams,” Capel said. “In the NET rankings, both Miami and Clemson are top-35, top-40 teams. In both games, we’ve been in a position where we’ve had an opportunity to win. That gives us hope, but there are things we have to correct on our end for us to be able to close these games out.”
