Capel, Austin and Lowe on the win over Virginia Tech

Jeff Capel, Zack Austin and Jaland Lowe met the media after Pitt's win over Virginia Tech on Saturday, and here's video and a full rundown of what they said.

Capel: Well, first and foremost, I’m incredibly grateful for the atmosphere that was in the building tonight. Our students and fans were amazing. When I walked out of the tunnel and saw the crowd and felt the energy, and throughout the game, it was electric in there. So I’m incredibly, incredibly grateful for that.

I’m really proud of my team. I thought we responded to this past Tuesday in a really mature fashion. This team was played tonight, Virginia Tech, can really score the basketball, and for us to hold them to three three’s for the game speaks to our attention to detail, Thursday and Friday in practice and earlier today in shoot-around and how we executed that. Our defense, especially in the second half, to hold them to 28 points and 31%, was outstanding as well. Then I thought we did a really good job of sharing the basketball, making the right plays, for the most part, and keeping them in rotations.

Again, when we showed back up Thursday to practice, I knew that we were ready. I felt like we had learned a lesson. I didn’t say anything to them. I didn’t talk to them about Tuesday night. We didn’t watch any film. But right when we started and we walked through first, that was the first thing, I knew that they already had maybe talked by themselves or their antennas were up and they knew what we needed to do. So I’m just really, really proud of the effort today.

Jaland, what were the conversations after Tuesday about being ready for this game?

Lowe: Really, like a next-play type of thing. We knew it wasn’t pretty. We knew that we didn’t play our style of basketball or how we wanted to play, so we just - it’s a sign of maturity. You’ve got to move on, get back to how we play and I think we did a great job of that tonight.

You and Coach talked about maturity. How have you matured over this last season and does it still feel like you’re a true freshman in all of this?

Lowe: Yeah, I mean, just time. Just trying to be the best version of myself for the team so we can win, so I try to do anything I can to help us win.

Zack, what was working for you tonight?

Austin: Just playing defense, playing off of others. It wasn’t really nothing special, for real.

Lowe: Nah, it was special.

Zack, you guys won the rebound battle by 14 tonight. Their bigs, when you look at them on paper, they’re bigger guys than your forwards. How did you guys win that rebound battle? How did you get 14 rebounds yourself?

Austin: Just playing hard, crashing the boards. Coach stresses winning the rebounding battle, so I just try to do my part.

What did you guys throw at them on the defensive end to hold them to three three’s?

Lowe: We knew they’re a great three-point shooting team. Really, just trying to run them off the line. Make them make tough two’s, make them go downhill a lot, send them to our bigs. But really just try to get Cattoor and Pedulla off the three-point line. They’re amazing players, so we really just game-planned it like that.

What was the talk at halftime about adjustments to what you guys weren’t doing right in the first half?

Lowe: Really, just keep playing solid. We thought we did a pretty good job of not letting them shoot the three-pointer well in the first half, so we knew to come out in the second half, we just had to bring it to another level, play straight-up more, less fouling, and just continue that.

Jaland, this is your team’s best shooting percentage in ACC play. Why were you guys able to hit so many shots, not only the easier ones but also the tough shots?

Lowe: The Oakland Zoo. I give all the credit to them right now. We have some really good players on our team, but I’m going to give the credit tonight to the Oakland Zoo. Really appreciate them for coming out. Great energy from them. We feed off their energy and they gave everything they could give us and we really wanted to give it back to them.

Jaland, I think Bub only played five minutes in the first half with foul trouble. What kind of spark was he able to give you in the second half?

Lowe: A huge spark. Bub’s a great ball-handler, a great scorer, a great facilitator, so we knew coming into the second half, him playing more would take less stress off everybody else. He did that immediately right when he came in, and that’s what Bub does.

Jaland, you said it was special what Zack did. What did you see from your teammate tonight?

Lowe: Man, I saw a crazy athlete who can really do this on any given night if he wanted to. So I’m going to take that part. I’m going to tell him he has to do this every night. But that’s what he does. That’s what we expect out of him. That’s what he expects out of himself. So him doing that tonight just really showed at what level he can play all the time and how he can affect the game.

Jeff, what was the halftime focus? What did you guys feel like you didn’t do well that got better in the second half?

Capel: I thought in the first half, we had some different lineups out there with the foul trouble. We didn’t have our regular rotation of perimeter guys, so you had Zack that played 20 minutes, that didn’t come out. You had Blake, I think, that played 20 minutes in the first half. We try to get those guys a little bit of a break. When Bub went out with his second foul, we were plus-seven. We were up seven. And he gives us a different look. Jaland - they’re each really good, but they’re different, and Bub gives us a different look in how we attack ball screens. With him out, that took away something that we do pretty well and we just had different lineups.

I thought in the second half, we got back to our regular lineups, our regular rotations, I thought the ball moved really, really well. Obviously we made shots, but I was just really pleased with the defensive effort throughout the game, especially guarding the three. I thought in the second half, we did a little bit better job of defending them without fouling them, trying to make them take contested two’s.

What allowed Bub to regroup in the second half after playing only five minutes in the first half?

Capel: I just think he’s a good player. I think that’s it. Even when he was out in the first half, he was still into the game on the bench, talking to guys individually when we came back for timeouts, talking to the guys about what he sees out there. And then he was able to come out and execute that in the second half.

What were Fede and Guillermo able to do for you tonight?

Capel: I thought they played really, really well. G more offensively. Fede in the first half was really good offensively: catching on the short rolls, his decision-making, his passing, he scored down there, offensive rebounds. And then Guillermo stretching the court out. I thought they battled inside. Those two guys are really good inside - Poteat and Kidd, I thought they battled.

You praised the defense in the second half, but what about the defense in the first half allowed Virginia Tech to get so many shots?

Capel: They’re good. That’s the very first thing. They’re really, really good offensively. When you look at their numbers, they’re at the top in a lot of categories offensively: in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, three-pointers made, free throw percentage. They’re up there. So I just thought they were in a really good rhythm, they made some tough shots, but again, I thought we were able to make them take some tough ones in the second and they didn’t make as many.

How do you feel about Zack Austin’s performance today, especially in the first half?

Capel: I thought he was tremendous. I really, really did. I thought defensively, some of the blocks that he had, the athletic plays that he had. I thought everything was good except for his last little part at the end. We should have pulled it out and we shot it and we get the offensive rebound and he goes in and tries to shoot that and they come down and hit a three. It was an 18-point game right there; all of a sudden, we don’t run clock, we take quick shots, they hit a three, which I think was their third, and the next thing you know, it was 15. So we’ve got to be smarter in that situation.

But I thought his defense was really good. Like Jaland said, he’s talented. It’s just getting that motor going all the time, and hopefully this is the start of that for him.

Shooting 51% is nice, but rebounding and defense are what really excites you, isn’t it?

Capel: Yeah, it is. It is. And to be able to defend like that against this team. I mean, they are as efficient of an offensive team as we have in this league when you look at their numbers. I thought we did a really good job of running them off the line and then in the second half, the adjustment was just, we didn’t foul. Our ball screen defense, we were more connected there, we didn’t rush, we kind of dropped back and guarded the ball a little bit more there, and because of that, we were able to make them take some tough two’s.

Mike Young talked after the game saying that you shouldn’t have to deal with the foul trouble with some of the guys you had and some of their guys also had some. Did you feel like there was maybe a little too much aggressiveness with some of the whistles today?

Capel: I don’t know. I don’t know, man. I’m not going to say anything about that. Those guys are terrific.

Sean Pedulla had 26 points today. What was it about him that you guys were having a hard time containing his shots?

Capel: I think he’s a really good player. He’s a top-ten scorer in our league, he’s a top-ten guy in assists in our league. Obviously with Cattoor out of the game with foul trouble, he was a little bit more aggressive. Made some tough shots. He’s a really, really good player. This is my first time seeing him live this year. I was impressed with him on tape; even more impressed with him live and in person.

How do you control a team that just had a game like Tuesday and didn’t start the first half in the best way?

Capel: We actually did start well. We started the game well. We got in some foul trouble and we didn’t.

Look, we have grown up a lot. We got beat pretty bad early this year here against Duke and here against Syracuse, and then we went to Duke and won. We lost at Miami when we were down big, we made a rally, but we lost the game and then we came back and we beat Wake Forest. So this team is learning. We’re growing. We’re getting better. We learn from every situation. And I’m proud of the maturity that we showed on Thursday, how we responded in practice Thursday and Friday - I thought that led to us playing well today.