Defensive issues, some standout performances and a big night at the line – here’s a look at what stood out in Pitt’s win over Georgia Tech Tuesday night.
Defensive concerns
If Jeff Capel was hoping his team would play better on defense Tuesday night after a performance that was severely lacking in Saturday’s loss at Virginia Tech, he probably went home somewhat unhappy.
After allowing the Hokies to shoot 56.6% from the field and forcing just nine turnovers on Saturday, Pitt’s defense was almost as forgiving on Tuesday night. Georgia Tech hit 26 of its 55 shots – 47.3% – and that number was largely influenced by the Yellow Jackets’ 3-of-15 performance from three in the first half.
Inside the arc, Georgia Tech shot 61.1% in the first half and 63% for the game. The Yellow Jackets also connected on 6-of-13 three’s in the second half, and they committed just four turnovers in the game – none of which came in the first half.
Quite simply, Georgia Tech was really good offensively, and Pitt’s defense bears a lot of the blame for that.
“We have to get back to defending,” Jeff Capel said after Tuesday night’s game. “I don’t think we defended well today, and that’s two games in a row. That’s out-of-character for who we have been.”
It might be out-of-character, but the Panthers are looking at a developing trend. They have allowed their opponents to shoot 47% or better in five of the last nine games, and while they are 4-1 in those games, it’s a dangerous way to live.
Pitt’s defense did improve in the second half against Georgia Tech, particularly when Capel installed a full-court press with reserve guard Nike Sibande leading the attack. But whatever issues have been revealed in the last few games need to be rectified in rather short order with the stretch run of the regular season and the postseason coming up.
The Hinson and Cummings show
I posted a stat Tuesday morning hoping it would end up having some connection to Tuesday night’s game, and it sure did.
Entering Tuesday, Pitt was 13-2 when Blake Hinson scored at least 16 points in a game, a record that seemed relevant after his 1-of-8 performance and four total points in Saturday’s loss at Virginia Tech.
Hinson bounced back in a big way Tuesday night, though, shooting 5-of-9 from the three-point line to score 19 points, including a dagger three that extended Pitt’s lead from five to eight with 1:42 left in the game.
Hinson would have been the star of the game for Pitt if not for Nelly Cummings. The senior point guard had been consistent in recent games, putting up 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds in each of the last two and averaging 11 points and five assists over the previous seven games since the Panthers’ home loss to Florida State.
On Tuesday night, he took it up a notch. He scored a team-high 22 points, handed out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds while shooting 6-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-9 from three. He was also a perfect 7-of-7 from the line, including four consecutive free throws in the final 32 seconds that pushed Pitt’s lead from five to nine.
Cummings was simply on, and that’s been happening more often than not recently. The Colgate transfer has recorded at least six assists in four of the last five games, and if 16 is Hinson’s magic number for points, five seems to be Cummings’ magic number for assists: Pitt is 13-3 when he gets at least five dimes.
Winning at the stripe
Pitt didn’t have a huge statistical advantage in Tuesday night’s game.
Georgia Tech shot better from the field, hitting 47.3% in the game compared to Pitt’s 47.1. The Yellow Jackets also made the same number of three-pointers as the Panthers – both teams had nine – and hit two more two-point field goals than Pitt.
With all of those numbers in mind, there was one stat that truly separated the Panthers and led them to victory.
Free throw shooting.
Pitt was a near-perfect 19-of-20 on Tuesday night, a sparkling 95% conversion rate that stands as the Panthers’ best of the season, surpassing the 14-of-15 mark they posted in the early-December win over Sacred Heart.
What was most important about Pitt’s free throw shooting against Georgia Tech was the timing. The Panthers were a perfect 12-of-12 from the line in the second half, with Federiko Federiko making four in a row to turn a four-point Yellow Jacket lead into a tie game near the midpoint of the half before Cummings and Jamarius Burton combined for six in the final 32 seconds to secure the win.
Federiko was truly the standout. The sophomore center hit all eight of his attempts – four in the first half; four in the second – making the prospect of fouling the wiry big slightly less appealing for Georgia Tech.
Cummings was also perfect at the line (7/7) and Burton was, too (2/2). Senior guard Greg Elliott was the only Pitt player to miss one; he rimmed the middle attempt of a three-shot trip to the line in the first half.
In a game that was as statistically close as Tuesday night’s game was, making free throws was the decider.
