Losses hurt, especially when they happen to a team in desperate need of a victory. Yet words can hurt just as bad (no matter how truthful they are).

That was Pitt’s situation Monday night after a 73-57 loss to Virginia at Petersen Events Center. Not only did the Panthers lose their sixth game in the past eight — this time, to a losing team — but coach Jeff Capel and one of his players were brutally honest in their postgame assessments.

”This is probably as bad of a performance of any team I ever coached,” said Capel, who’s been a head coach for 16 seasons and who suffered through some equally bad games earlier in his time at Pitt.

Added Jorge Diaz Graham, who referenced Virginia’s 18-4 lead and 17 unaswered points to start the game: “We got hit in the first half, and we never recovered from that. I think our body language wasn’t right since the beginning. I think we gave up.”

Ouch!

Rough assessments for a team and players who were facing a must-win situation to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive and had come into this season hoping “to leave no doubt” about their tournament worthiness.

But Pitt (14-8, 5-6 ACC) left the Pete looking less like a team suited for the postseason and more like one wondering what went wrong and not sure how to fix it.

“Obviously, I haven’t figured it out,” Capel said. “I have to do a better job of that.”

Perhaps Capel’s second-most honest — and damning — evaluation of his team’s performance came when he said, “They manhandled us at every position, just about every possession.”

“Really disappointed in our performance. It was embarrassing. I’m sorry to the crowd (9,075 at the Pete), the students, the fans. It’s my responsibility. I have to do a better job of making sure we’re ready to go. I thought we were. Obviously, we weren’t. We were bad in every aspect of the game of basketball: turnovers (10), rebounding (a 21-33 deficit), defense (Virginia shot 56% and hit 10 of 22 3-pointers) and offense.”

How bad was Pitt with the ball in its hands? The Panthers shot 30% from the field in the first half (41.9% for the game). At one point, they looked like they would finish the half with a single-digit point total, something they most recently did in 2018 when they scored seven under former coach Kevin Stallings against Virginia. They didn’t hit 10 points until Ishmael Leggett made a foul shot 5 minutes, 14 seconds before intermission.

“Our body language was bad. (Virginia) saw it. They fed off it. It gave them energy,” Capel said. “Our inability to guard the ball in the first half where they just drove us. It was a really, really bad performance from us.”

Virginia’s Dai Dai Ames led all scorers with 27 points, sinking 11 of 16 shot attempts.

“We let a guy averaging 6.8 points per game destroy us, and he did it,” Capel said. “He saw it earlier in the game, he could drive. He knocked us off balance. We didn’t stand up to him.”

Usually after a loss, a coach will decline to assess his team’s performance in detail until he has a chance to review the video. Capel said Monday night waiting wasn’t necessary.

“It’s not too soon for me,” he said. “We just didn’t play with any passion, any toughness, any connectivity. I thought we got embarrassed, and we tried to be cool. It seems to be what young people do today. It was everyone. It wasn’t (just) the starters. We had a group that came in (off the bench late in the first half) and gave us a little bit of a spurt, gave us a little energy. But you have to be able to sustain it, which means you have to defensive rebound.”

Virginia (11-12, 4-8) came into the game a loser in seven of its previous nine games (five by at least 14 points). Trying to recover after former coach Tony Bennett resigned shortly before the start of the season, the Cavaliers finally played like the team that was a national powerhouse under Bennett. While Pitt lacked intensity on defense, Virginia built 20-point leads in both halves.

Ishmael Leggett led the Panthers with 17 points, but Damian Dunn, who scored 24 at Wake Forest on Saturday, managed only five in 26 minutes. Jaland Lowe added seven points while shooting only 33% (3 of 9).

Proof of its disjointed showing on offense, Pitt recorded only five assists on 18 baskets. Lowe had four of the assists.

Capel said Lowe must play better, but he emphasized repeatedly that the answer to what ails the Panthers sits with the head coach.

“When you’re a good player, there are expectations,” Capel said. “When there are expectations, you have to step to them. That’s the responsibility of a leader.

“As a head coach, I have to. As a good player, you have to. It’s not just him. It starts with me. I have to do a better job with this team. I have not done as good a job that’s required for us to be the team I think we can be, I thought we could be, I still think we can be.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)