Pitt head coach Jeff Capel met with the media following his team’s 107-56 win over Jacksonville on Friday night. Here is a complete rundown of everything he had to say.

Capel: I thought our guys played really, really well. Really hard. Coming into this game they were ninth in the country in pace. They were second in the country in rebounds and fourth in offensive rebounds and they were sixth in the country in steals and so in their first three games they have been very aggressive. Really the identity of their program is physicality and rebounding. I think they maybe had 22 offensive rebounds against Xavier and that’s something that we really tried to hone in and lock-in on in practice. I thought our guys did a heck of a job at the start of the game with our defense and with our rebounding, which led to us being able to get our in transition and being able to attack their defense. I thought we played with great spirit, togetherness. I thought we showed a toughness and it was as complete of a performance as we’ve had so far this year. So that’s encouraging, something to build on, again we’re excited about it, proud of it, but we're excited to move onto the next one.

What kind of boost is it when you have a more developed Guillermo and Jorge when Fede got in foul trouble?

Capel: Yea, I mean those guys put in a lot of work this summer. You can see it in their bodies and you can see it in their games how they are able to play through physicality. Last year against this team they probably both would have gotten pushed around, but this year they were able to push back a little bit, hold their ground, finish through some things. I think they are continuing to develop and continuing to get better and better.

Do you think Guillermo came into this one with extra motivation after struggling a bit on Monday?

Capel: I think all of our guys did. We didn’t feel like, especially the post guys, that they played up to their capabilities. We really had a couple of good practices, really good practices leading up to this. It was a point pf emphasis because we knew after watching that tape that they were going to throw the ball inside. We knew that’s what they do anyway and I thought our guys defended before their guys got the ball. I thought we played with a level of physicality that we needed to, that’s required as you move up in levels, and I thought we did a really, really good job in our preparation that led to us playing well.

You were assessed a technical in the second half, were you able yo explain what happened?

Capel: Yea, I shouldn’t have run out onto the court. I was frustrated. Our guy was down and I ran out there and I can’t do that.

Is this the deepest bench you have had since you’ve been here?

Capel: Yea, I think so.

What makes you say that?

Capel: Because I think we have ten guys that can play. Marlon is redshirting, Papa is hurt, but the other ten guys I really think they are all good players and they fit.

What did you like from Bub tonight because they threw a lot of double teams and took away some drives, but it felt like he didn’t really force anything either…

Capel: He has the ability to dissect the game in real time and to figure out what they’re doing. That’s something really rare for a player period, especially for an 18-year old. You saw early how they were being really physical and putting two on the basketball and he did a good job of getting off of it and then he is able to pick his spots. He’s been, so far, a really efficient offensive player. As we continue to move up in competition, hoepfully that’s something that he continues to do.

Now that you are 4-0 and you got some of your games behind you, are you looking forward to playing some tougher competition?

Capel: Yea, we’re excited. We feel like every game we’ve played the level has gone up so far. From the first one North Carolina A&T to Binghamton, Florida Gulf Coast, this game, but certainly we understand that next week will be very different. Florida is a different level. It’s a power-five. We’re playing in New York. It’s a tournament and there’s an opportunity to win a championship. So all of those things. The field is great with Baylor and Oregon State. We’re really really excited to go up there and see where we are against that type of competition.

I know you are in the middle of a new season, but are you able to appreciate where your program is now versus the last time you were in Brooklyn?

Capel: Was that when y’all asked me the questions after the game… (laughs). No.

That was two times ago…

Capel: Yea, you know what, it’s interesting because I actually thought after the VCU game that was the turning point of our season. I thought that game was what reinforced to me what I thought before the season that we were pretty good. Even though we were blown out and lost a close one. I felt good leaving there about who we were and what we could become. I’m anxious to get up there this time and see if we can maybe be a little bit better.

Why do you think your team is further along four games into this season as opposed to last season?

Capel: Well, I think we have a good core group of guys back that understand what we’re trying to do. Because of that they are able to help the young guys and the new guys along. Zack and Ish both have a lot of game experience and so they’ve been able to pick things up as far as what we want to do pretty quickly. I think our freshmen, mentally, are a little bit more advanced than certainly maybe than I was as a freshman or your normal freshman, just because of their backgrounds. It certainly helped being together this summer going to Spain, to get ten practices there. We played two games against really good competition over there and just the organic camaraderie that these guys have been able to develop since they’ve been here. It’s been really cool to watch.

How do you measure mental toughness from the practices to the games to see before you start playing other teams?

Capel: Well I look at it every day. How do you show up every day? And that was the thing that I was not pleased with after Florida Gulf Coast. They tested us and I think it was a four or five point game with about three and a half to four minutes left. There’s a level of toughness with what we did to end that game, but then how we came back after that. We were off Tuesday and I thought we had a really good practice on Wednesday. That’s toughness to be able to come back after an off day and to show up ready to work and get better, ready to learn and take criticism — constructive criticism and to not take anything personally and to use it as a challenge and motivation and you saw that tonight. We maybe didn’t play as well in the post against Florida Gulf Coast, but I thought our post guys dominated the game today with defense, rebounding, obviously G was able to score. Fede puts a different type of pressure with rim running, dunkers spot, lobs, and things like that. But just how you show up every day. If you can show up at a really high level every day, thar’s a level of toughness that you can't teach and our guys are learning how to do that.

You had 15 made three-pointers and you had some games like that last year. Do you think this team can have games like that consistently?

Capel: Yea, I do. I think we can shoot the basketball. I feel confident if we’re generating shots. We missed some we normally make, some wide open ones today, but I want them shooting those shots.