Jeff Capel met the media after Pitt's win over Gardner-Webb on Saturday. Here's the full rundown of what he said.

Capel: I’m really proud of our guys. It’s been a very, very long, emotional week, and I knew that we were at the end of - as my college coach used to say, an energy cycle. So I was really worried about this game, because I think Gardner-Webb’s a pretty good team. We watched them - they didn’t play until Thursday, and they played really, really well against Western Kentucky and had a chance to win the game at the end and led for a good part of the game. And when you look at their history, they’ve beaten Power Five teams, they’ve beaten Clemson, they’ve beaten Georgia Tech, they’ve beaten Purdue. The last time we had an NCAA Tournament, they were in it and they led Virginia at the half and they have a couple of guys that were on that team, especially Cornwall.

So I was really worried because I knew that my team was a little bit tired and I knew human nature would be an opponent this afternoon. I was really proud of how we came out defensively. If you look at the last six regular-season games that Gardner-Webb has played, counting their game against Western Kentucky, they’ve shot over 50% from the field. And I thought what we did defensively was big-time. We wanted to take them out of their patterns, out of their sets. I thought early our ball-screen defense was on point, I thought our help-side defense was on point and I thought we did a really good job there.

I did not think we were good offensively. We weren’t sharp, we weren’t strong, we were careless and that hurt us. We were able to make a push there in the first half and got up 15, and then I thought we kind of played the score a little bit.

But again, I’m proud of our guys. For Femi to come in and play the minutes that he played - I thought he did some really, really nice things, especially defensively. Obviously, Justin was amazing once again. I think (Pitt sports information director Matt Plizga) he’s the first ACC guy since Tim Duncan - a guy that I played against - to have back-to-back 20/20 games. That’s very, very, very elite company. A big-time performance by him. I thought Xavier coming back in the game and we played him with two fouls and he did some good things to kind of give us a little more separation.

Again, defensively, we were good. We’ve got to be better offensively. We will. I’m glad we have the day off tomorrow, besides coming in the morning for COVID tests. It will be good for us to get away from basketball for a moment. And now, as we conclude our non-conference schedule, start getting ready for ACC play.

You talked about being pleased with your defensive effort, particularly early in the game. What did you see that was different about the way you defended tonight compared to the way you played the first four games?
Capel: I thought we defended our butts off against Northwestern. I think the last two games, I think we’ve been really good defensively. I thought we were pretty good against Northern Illinois. Obviously, the first game, we weren’t, but we’ve moved on from that. Our focus is on the present and, again, they are a team - Gardner-Webb - that runs really good stuff, and one of the things we wanted to do was try to make them uncomfortable, try to disrupt their rhythm a little bit, and I thought we did a good job of that.

What can you say about Abdoul Karim’s performance in the paint? It seemed like he was doing a good job reading the ball screens defensively, on top of the points and rebounds.
Capel: Yeah, you know, forgive me in my earlier statement for not talking about him, because I thought he did some really good things. He’s really good with ball screen defense. He can get up there, he can hitch, he can move, and he did a good job. And he rebounded. He had nine rebounds, battled some foul trouble, was able to make some baskets down there and provide a presence for us down low.

What kind of effort does it take to have back-to-back 20/20 games and to do it with no fouls?
Capel: Yeah, it’s a big-time effort. There’s a reason why it hasn’t been done that much. I think it’s been done once here at Pitt by Dejuan Blair, and we talked about the ACC. I mean, Duncan, I don’t know what year it was - I know he finished in ’97, that was my year - so it’s been a long time and there’s been a lot of great players in this league. So it’s a big-time performance. I’m probably more impressed with the five assists by Justin. Five assists and only two turnovers and two blocks. He’s a good player and he has a chance to be a really good player.

Look, we know as we go forward now, the competition increases. But I’m pleased with what he’s done since the first game, and hopefully it’s something we can build on and continue to get better from.

With Justin, he’s someone who’s only 6-foot-6, he doesn’t have the same kind of big body like Dejuan Blair. Given his size, what makes him such an effective rebounder?
Capel: He has a knack for the ball. That’s the very first thing. I think any good rebounder, any elite rebounder, that’s what they - they have a knack for the ball. Some of the best rebounders are not the biggest, most imposing guys. But he has a knack for the ball. He’s a quick jumper. And he has good length. But I just think the main thing is that he has a nose for the ball and he’s always around the basket.

How did you feel about your backup guys in the frontcourt, Terrell Brown and Hugley both coming in and getting six rebounds on their night, just their physical presence and how they played with and without the ball?
Capel: I thought they did a good job. I thought they did some really good things. Terrell getting five offensive rebounds - he made a big basket for us in the first half against the zone from the foul line. We were struggling to score, obviously the whole half, but at that moment, they had a little bit of momentum and he hit a big-time shot.

John did some really good things for us. He was able to finish down low. That kid Reid was a top-100 guy in high school and played really, really well the other night against Charles Bassey from Western Kentucky, who I think is one of the best bigs in the country. So it’s a young man in Kareem Reid that we have a lot of respect for, and I thought our guys were really geared up to play him, and we did a really good job against him. All three of our post guys.

In that game against Western Kentucky, Gardner-Webb had 10 blocks and only three tonight. That’s been a problem for you guys in the past around the rim. How impressed are you with your finishing there, especially with some of the problems you had with Northwestern in the beginning of that game?
Capel: You know, we can finish better. We still have to continue to work on that. But I thought we attacked. I thought we attacked the basket. I thought we attacked and tried to go through their chest. But that’s something we have to continue to do a better job of.

You mentioned this being the end of an energy cycle; you’re also coming off a game not that long ago - you played late Wednesday night, I’m sure you didn’t get in until early Thursday morning. Is that an emotional maturity thing, coming back to prepare for this game on short rest and also this being the last game before a little break?
Capel: I mean, I was worried about it, just from the standpoint that it was such an emotional win and we exerted so much energy in that game against Northwestern. And just the week’s been long: headed out there on Tuesday, we were delayed, we got in a little bit later, we had a couple of things go on with players’ families on the way out there, stuff back home that guys are dealing with that were incredibly emotional. We didn’t get back here to the Pete until four in the morning. As soon as we walked in here, we had the guys come in, we got COVID tested, so there wasn’t much we could do on Thursday except for watch tape. Gardner-Webb had not played until Thursday night, so really we had one day of preparation.

I knew that we were tired so I tried not to do much - as much banging, as much contact, yesterday on Friday, but we got some work in. But I was worried about this. You look around the league today: Miami, they lose, Carolina was in a battle for a little bit against North Carolina Central, you know, this time of year, you’re coming off of finals. For us, it’s our first game here with no fans. We had some guys the last two games we played, it’s the first time they haven’t had a parent - ever - at a game. So it’s an adjustment.

So I was really worried. I was very proud of how we were able to come out defensively and take care of business there. And we’ll get the offense going.

In your three years at Pitt, is this the best you’ve felt about your team this early in the season after only five games?
Capel: It’s only five - I mean, it’s hard to tell. I like where we are. I like the fact that we got off the mat from the first game. We could have allowed that to affect us, but we got off the mat and we’ve gotten better, I think, each game, so I’m proud of that. We’ll see what happens as we go forward, but I like my team, I think we have a chance to get a lot better. We have to work to earn the right to do that.

Ithiel Horton has put together a couple rough games back-to-back; what do you tell him, how do you help him stay engaged, stay focused, despite his struggles?
Capel: Just to keep playing, understand who you are, be ready to shoot the basketball, we believe in you.

There’s a report out that the NCAA is going to approve a blanket waiver by Wednesday. Have you heard that and what is your thoughts on that with Nike and everything?
Capel: Nike sent me that last night. He sent me something from Twitter. I’ve gotten off social media, so he sent me a text last night with a link to that. It was a report, I think, by Nicole Auerbach. He sent that with a big smiley face. If that’s the case, that’d be great. One of the things that I don’t understand is, if it’s going to be approved next Wednesday, why not just go ahead and do it? Like, it doesn’t make sense for these kids that are out - that could be two games that they miss, depending on someone’s schedule.

I hope it happens. I hope it happens for Nike and for any other kids in the exact same situation, because I think it’s the right thing to do. If it happens, we’ll be excited. He’s a good player. He has worked really hard. I think he’ll fit in greatly with us. And if that happens, then we’ll figure out the best way to utilize what he does and to help him get better.