What did Jeff Capel say after Pitt’s loss at Georgia Tech on Sunday? Here’s a full rundown of his comments.

Capel: Congratulations to Georgia Tech. [Good] performance by their team, coming off of two games this week. So congrats to them. Disappointed in the loss. I thought we fought, we did some good things, but you can’t turn the ball over 18 times and you have to do a better job from the foul line. I thought those two things were a big part of the game and a big reason why we weren’t able to get the win. So congratulations to them. Any questions?

You talked about the turnovers there. From your vantage point, did there seem to be a common theme with them?
Capel: We talked about, going into the game, that we have to be strong with the ball. They lead the league in steals. I think they average around nine steals a game and force 15 turnovers, so we knew that. We weren’t strong with the basketball, some of the decision-making wasn’t good - that’s what happened. But that’s what they do. That’s their defense. They steal the basketball.

You guys went through another rut where you scored four points in the last eight and a half minutes of the game. You’ve been trying to work your way out of those types of funks. What kind of changes do you need to see on the court so that you guys snap out of those quicker?
Capel: We have to make shots. That’s what we have to do. We have to make shots and we have to execute better. But it would help if we make some shots. We did in the second half. We shot like 60% in the second half. But like you mentioned, down the stretch - we have to be able to play through contact. There was a lot of contact out there today, and we have to be able to play through that, we have to be able to finish through that, to finish through contact. We had a couple of opportunities in transition where we have to finish; when we don’t, we get fouled and we went 1-for-2 at the line or maybe 0-for-2. In those situations, you have to finish.

Your thoughts on Ithiel Horton’s game.
Capel: Yeah, he played well. Made some shots for us, got into a good rhythm there. Ithiel’s a good player. We need him to believe all the time he’s a good player.

What can you say about the difference in the first half and second half for Au’Diese Toney?
Capel: He was able to make some shots. Sometimes, it’s just as simple as that. He was able to make shots. The ball went into the basket for him. I liked the fact that he rebounded; he had nine rebounds today, which is something he hadn’t done in the past few games that he had done really well at a very high level early in the season. So, again, he’s just got to make some shots.

With a week to prepare for this game, did you have a good sense that things might have gone better than what they did?
Capel: I don’t understand the question.

What I mean is, you had a lot of time to prepare for this game. Did you feel you might have had a better effort, had better production from your guys because you had so much time to prepare?
Capel: We didn’t have a bad effort. Our guys fought. We played hard. There were some mistakes that we made that just happen sometimes in the game, so I don’t know exactly how to answer that. We did have a week to prepare, I thought we were prepared. In the first half, we turned the ball over 13 times; that’s something that we didn’t prepare for. But they did a good job of stealing the basketball and we were careless. I thought we settled in in the second half, we didn’t turn it over quite as much in the second half. Would have liked to get to the foul line a little bit more. We drove it, we tried to draw some contact, but I guess they teach their guys greatly not to foul.

What were the biggest problems Wright gave you guys down low today?
Capel: Well, he’s a really good player and I think he’s given a lot of people in this league problems. He’s patient, he’s a high-percentage field-goal shooter, offensive rebounds. They run a lot of stuff through him. He leads their team coming into the game in field goal attempts and he had a heck of a game this afternoon.

What can you say for X’s work? He came out and struggled in the first half with five turnovers, but you saw him be a big part of the comeback that allowed you guys to tie it up and get back in the fight.
Capel: Yeah, he had six turnovers in the first half; he’s got to be better there. We need him in the game. It hurt us when we didn’t have him in the game, when that call was reversed from a foul on Alvarado to a foul on Xavier and a flagrant; all of a sudden, it becomes his third and fourth foul and we have to get him out of the game. So he had to sit for awhile; there were a lot of minutes left. But we need him in the game. He had 11 minutes in the first half and only played nine in the second half; there’s a difference when he’s not in the game for us.

The two technical fouls early in the second half; what happened with those two plays?
Capel: The two technical fouls when?

Early in the second half.
Capel: Yeah, I don’t know. You have to ask the officials on it. I don’t know. I don’t understand it. I don’t know.

You talked a little bit earlier about contact in that game. How did it seem to impact your guys and how did they seem to handle it?
Capel: Well, you know, when you’re playing against a team that’s really going after the ball, swiping at the ball, trying to get steals, you have to be able to be mentally and physically tough to finish. You have to be able to finish through contact and then hopeful that, if there’s a lot of contact, maybe you get a foul call. Until it was, what, 13, 15 seconds left, they only had four team fouls in the second half, and we’re a team that tries to drive the basketball, so, again, we have to do a better job of playing through contact. We have to be stronger.

We talked earlier in the season about Ithiel being too much of a perfectionist, putting too much pressure on himself. How much have you noticed that sort of mental strain with him change? Does it seem like he’s doing that less and do you think that’s contributed some to his better play over the last two months?
Capel: I think he’s - you know, he sat out a whole year and he switched levels, going from a mid-major to a high-major, so everything is different. I don’t think people - maybe people don’t fully appreciate the impact it has when you don’t play, when you’re not in competition for a whole year. So I think, as the season has gone on, I think you see him starting to feel a little bit more comfortable out there. And more confident. He’s a good player. That’s why we have him here and we need him to be a good player throughout.

Big picture now: quick turnaround for Wednesday and five losses in a row. How do you take that second-half effort and try to turn it around against N.C. State?
Capel: I don’t think we’ve had five losses in a row. We beat Virginia Tech a couple games ago. But it is a quick turnaround. We have to be ready. N.C. State, I know, is going to be a hungry basketball team. They’ve dealt with some adversity so we have to be ready. We know we have to be ready to defend ball screens; they do that a lot. I saw the last game, they started two bigs, which means they probably do a really good job of pounding the glass. And we know they want to play at a fast tempo, so again, with us turning the basketball over, before Wednesday we have to really rectify that.