The Pitt Panthers improved to 7-1 on the season following a dramatic 91-90 overtime win over Ohio State on Friday afternoon in Columbus. Following the game, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel met with the media to recap his team’s victory. Here is a rundown of everything he had to say, with video courtesy of Pitt Athletics.

Capel: What an incredible game. We fought for 11 rounds, it took 11 rounds, and we stayed in it, and we beat a really, really good basketball team. I have so much respect for Coach Diebler, his staff, and their players. And it was a hell of a win by us, man.

I mean, to be down like we were in the first half and to not defend like we're capable of in the first half and to have that deficit at halftime, and then to come out in the second half and to really get back to playing the way that we know that we're capable of playing. I thought the guy that changed the game was Papa Kante.

His energy became contagious and infectious, and it shot throughout the whole team. And he was terrific on both ends of the basketball. And then guys just made big, big-time plays. Even at the end to foul like we did, to try to get the right guys that we wanted to get on the foul line. And then the very last play for Jaland to trust and to make that pass, the play before for him to make three free throws to get it where it was a one-point game. And Zack made a big-time shot. But we were in that position because of everyone that touched the court.

And both teams made heck of a plays. We just happened to make one at the end that was a little bit bigger. And so I'm really, really proud of my team. Hell of a road win against a really good basketball team. And hopefully this is something we can build off of.

Jeff, what's going through your mind as you guys get the quick foul from Marlon, they hit one or they hit the one free throw, don't call timeout and let your players play?

Capel: Yeah, well…in between we knew what we wanted to go to. And we wanted to give Jaland space. We knew that it was going to be a one-possession game. When he missed the first one, we knew that we'd be either down one or two. And we practiced those situations. And we thought Jalen would be able to get to the basket. But we also knew that there would be a lot of attention on him. And, again, for him to trust in that situation, there was a lot of attention, and for him to make that pitch to Zack, and Zack stepped into the shot.

Zack has worked his butt off since the season ended last year on shooting the basketball, on catch and shoot. And he stepped into it and just made a big-time shot.

Speaking on Papa's impact, you said you thought he changed the game. How good does it feel for you to see him after all he's been through?

Capel: Well, it's awesome. I mean, it really, really is. And, you know, I'll tell you what, he was – you know, we got back from Greenbrier, late Sunday night and we were off Monday. He was unbelievable in practice on Tuesday. It's the best he's moved, just the energy, but just how he moved. And that carried over to Wednesday, and so I knew that, you know, he would be, you know, get minutes in this game today.

I probably should have been a little bit smarter and put him in earlier in the first half. But, he's gotten better and better. He shows up with an unbelievable attitude every day and he works his butt off. And he was ready for his moment. He was ready for his opportunity. And it's a great lesson to everyone, especially the young guys, that even if you're not playing – he didn't play a minute in the Greenbrier. Even if you're not playing, how do you show up for practice? How do you show up? Do you keep your head down? Or do you show up with a great attitude and work? And he did that and he was ready for the opportunity. And it totally changed the trajectory of this game for us.

What can you say about Jaland's effort, 28 points in this one and keeping his head even when Ish has to sit on the bench?

Capel: I mean, he's a really good player. We believe in him. Again, I thought he did a great job of trusting, of making plays, of getting off the basketball. Obviously, he made plays of scoring the basketball. He and Ish really kept us in it. You know, when we were up five and they went on a run and went up, and then at the end of regulation we were able to get some stops and at the end of regulation to get a stop. But I just thought Jaland was terrific. And he made big-time shots, big-time free throws, big-time plays.

You guys had some lineups out there, especially the way that we haven't seen all season long yet. Even Cam and Papa out there at the same time. What does it say about your group to have powered through that and kind of come out this way?

Capel: Yeah, well, it says a lot. It shows the toughness that we displayed today that I think we've had all year. It shows how together we are. And it shows we can do different things. It was different lineups for me. When we were in foul trouble and things like that. But guys stepped up and made plays.

What were you seeing in that final shot?

Capel: Well, we felt like that they would have a lot of attention on Jaland, on Lowe. Like I thought there would be a lot of attention on him. And on that play there was. We pushed it We tried to get a high ball screen just to cause a little bit of confusion. And Jaland pushed it, and everyone was loaded up to him, and Zack was trailing. He took the basketball out, and he was able just to step right into a three. It's probably the last guy maybe they thought that would take the shot in that situation. I think they probably thought, like everyone probably thought, it would be Lowe. And, again, I think it speaks volumes of his trust and his teammate to trust him to make that pass and to step into that shot.

Ohio State was getting a lot of really good looks in the first half. It was very efficient. What did you guys change in the second half to counter what they did?

Capel: I thought the change was Papa. I thought that changed everything. It just lifted the energy. In the first half they were 69% from the floor, 67% from the three-point line.

I think they were 20 for 29 from the floor. And that's all we talked about at halftime. I think they had 28 points in the paint in the first half. And so we really tried to do a better job of that. But I just think it was Papa. He just injected energy into our team. His teammates know what he's been through. They know how hard he works and how he shows up every day. And the fact that he came in and played with such energy, I think just lifted everyone.

You had a significant frontcourt size advantage. The backcourt though, when your guards were able to really make some big plays to counter what Ohio State's strength was, how did you feel your guys handled that matchup?

Capel: Well, I thought it was a matchup of two really good backcourts with Thornton, Mechie Johnson, Parrish, and then coming off the bench with Mobley. Those guys, and look man, both teams were making big shots. I mean, Parrish made some big-time threes. I mean, the corner three, the step-back three over really good defense. Thornton made some big threes. And our guys made some big plays. And so it was two teams with both of them had really good backcourts, and both backcourts stepped up and made big-time plays.

(On Ohio State going up 11, then going on a 15-0 run…)

Capel: Yeah, well I thought, again, we just kept fighting. That's all we kept talking about in the huddle was just keep fighting. We have to chip away. We don't have a, this isn't the old MTV rock and jock where you got the 25-point basket. We have to gradually chip away, but we can't do it unless we start getting stops. And we just, we contained penetration. One of the things we did was that we started switching every ball screen in DHO, trying to stay out of rotations, and then we started playing with a little bit more force. Our guys did a great job of switching. We did a great job of containing penetration where they weren't getting a lot of kick-out threes. We protected the basket, and then we were able to turn that into offense for us. But I think it was just the energy that was injected by Papa and then our guys showing resiliency and toughness to continue to fight.