DURHAM, N.C. — Pitt blew an 11-point halftime lead Wednesday night and lost 77-69 to No. 24 Duke.
The Panthers – who were aiming for their third win of the season over a ranked opponent – haven’t won inside Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1979; so long ago that current Pitt coach Jeff Capel hadn’t yet celebrated his fourth birthday.
Pitt simply had no answer for Duke in the second half. More specifically, the Panthers couldn’t stop freshman big man Kyle Filipowski, who had 28 points on 8-of-14 shooting to go along with 15 boards and two assists. Duke also got 10 points from Mark Mitchell, and 14 points and five assists from Tyrese Proctor.
Jamarius Burton led Pitt with 16 points, five rebounds and six assists. Nelly Cummings had 14 points too, while Nike Sibande chipped in 11 points and six boards, and Blake Hinson tallied 10 points.
The Panthers fell behind Duke early on, but then broke off a 10-4 run to take a three-point lead. Pitt proved to have more than just that spurt in it though. Later in the first half, the Panthers embarked on a 13-2 run to take a 12-point lead with under nine minutes till halftime. Burton scored seven points during that span.
After Burton picked up his second foul and went to the bench, Duke evened the score a bit, but Pitt still led by 11 points at halftime after a 9-0 run over the final three minutes. Eight different Panthers scored in the first half and Pitt was shooting 56.7% from the floor while the Blue Devils were connecting on just 30.3% of their shots. The Panthers also had seven first-half steals and Duke had more turnovers (12) than baskets made (10).
Duke pulled ahead in the second half though. Over a stretch of about four minutes, the Blue Devils went on a 15-0 run to take a seven-point lead with about eight minutes to play. Filipowski scored six points in that span for Duke, while Pitt missed six shot attempts and had two turnovers.
Pitt closed the gap to four points, but Duke pulled away again, closing the game with a 6-2 run.
It’s the first time this season that Duke has won after trailing at halftime. The Blue Devils were previously 0-4 in those situations.
After scoring 43 points in the first half, Pitt scored just 26 in the second on 8-of-27 shooting.
Duke really dominated Pitt in the paint, as the Blue Devils outscored the Panthers there 34-20. Duke also won the rebounding battled 51-28 and outscored Pitt 19-8 on second-chance points.
Pitt has now lost two straight after posting a five-game winning streak. The Panthers will aim to get back in the win column on Saturday at Georgia Tech.
Capel is EXACTLY who we thought he was.
Lol, I appreciate this post after the last thread. I really do. Don’t agree, but I appreciate the post.
So tonight they get outrebounded 51-28. 24-9 on the offensive rebounds. Are you kidding me. What the hell did Capel tell his team at half time? Clemson destroyed em in the paint too. This second half tonight was a joke. The head coached panicked with a nice lead and total dominance in the first half. In fact, the leader for Pitt should have been larger at halftime. All those Duke turnovers.
They need another big guy down low aka Hugley to supplement what they have. If Hugley comes back this season and can play like he can Pitt would be a much more competitive team.
Yup, without Hugley Pitt is going to have problems going forward. The two brothers and Federiko don’t have the big body bulk that is needed down low in the ACC. They are getting pushed around. Opposing coaches have picked up on this and the stats show it. Opposing teams going into the paint and then the foul trouble. Not enough big man depth on the bench. I am very disappointed here. The loss of Hugley is big. The ACC season is flying by already with six games played already. We need Hugley and we need him NOWWWWW. I do understand… Read more »
Tale of two halves .. but, there was no way Duke would play as badly in the 2ndH as they did in the 1st. They almost looked comically bad. Even though we struggled, the game came down to the last minute and if Elliot’s 3 would have gone down, the ending could have been much different. We really miss Hughley on the boards. Got pushed around way too much. I’ve got to believe that given that his situation is so secretive, it’s something big enough to keep him out this season. Maybe a redshirt would be a good thing since… Read more »
He’s played 8 games. He can’t redshirt
I sure hope he’s okay. If this dude is on the court Pitt finishes top 4 conference. Six games in…the time is NOW! But this back and forth nonsense with the shoulda coulda woulda stuff, enough already. Capel is not handling this right w the public. Let us know a time frame for his return or tell us his season is over.