Jeff Capel used 11 different lineups in Pitt’s 63-61 win over Florida State on Wednesday night at the Petersen Events Center, but there was one combination the Panthers’ head coach relied on to beat the Seminoles.

With his team trailing by seven points and the game clock ticking just under 12 minutes, Capel made what would turn out to be his final substitution of the night when sophomore Au’Diese Toney came out in favor of sophomore Trey McGowens.

McGowens joined fellow sophomore Xavier Johnson, juniors Terrell Brown and Ryan Murphy and freshman Justin Champagnie, and that five-man lineup turned FSU’s seven-point lead into a Pitt advantage before closing out the game with some timely shots and key free throws.

The group spread the production around in the final 12 minutes. Champagnie, the freshman, led the way with eight points when he hit a pair of three-point shots and two free throws. Brown had seven on two field goals and three free throws. McGowens scored six. Johnson put in five. And Murphy, who was an offensive spark when the team needed one, nailed four free throws in the final 12 minutes.

“Right now, I think you just have to give Pittsburgh a lot of credit,” FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. “I thought they did a great job of maintaining their poise and never panicking. They had guys step up and make big shots; when you can make those shots when the game’s on the line like that, that gives you a lot of confidence. And if they can continue to keep doing that, they might have some postseason opportunities.”

The quintet that finished the game didn’t just score, though. In addition to the points, McGowens had three assists and three rebounds in the final 12 minutes. Champagnie grabbed three defensive boards himself. Brown had two offensive rebounds. And Murphy had one rebound and one assist.

It was a group effort that managed to hold off Florida State, and it came from a group that probably wouldn’t have been the first guess for most Pitt fans - or maybe even for Capel himself.

After opening the game with two newcomers - freshman Gerald Drumgoole and senior center Eric Hamilton started - Capel turned to three veterans and two first-year Panthers to close things out. Champagnie, of course, is a freshman, while Murphy arrived as Pitt this summer as a transfer from junior college.

In the first half on Wednesday night, Capel didn’t use Johnson, McGowens and Murphy together for a majority of the team’s lineups. He had a three-guard lineup on the court for the final five minutes of the first half but didn’t go back to it until just under 12 minutes in the second, when McGowens rejoined Johnson and Murphy.

Even then, Capel didn’t know he was going to end up sticking with those three - plus Champagnie and Brown - for the rest of the game.

“I coach on rhythm, man,” he said after the game. “I don’t have set patterns or, going into it, ‘This guy’s going to play this amount of minutes.’ I thought we had a good group, I thought they had a good thing going and I wanted to ride with them. And they did a really, really good job. And it’s nothing against anyone else; we’re going to need all of them. If you would have told me coming into this game against Florida State that Justin would play 23 minutes and play 12 minutes straight - I don’t know if he played 12 minutes straight in practice - so for him to be able to do that and do it at a high level and make some shots and make some plays, that’s a big thing for us.

“But we need them all. Guys after the first game, I hope we don’t have anyone with their head down because we need them all. And we’re going to need them at noon on Saturday.”