Cruel end should not spoil special season for Pitt
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The NCAA Tournament can be one of the most exciting sporting events to happen each year, but it is certainly one of the most cruel as well. Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said as much after his team lost 84-73 to Xavier in the second round of the Big Dance.
The Panthers’ frantic, whirlwind of a week and unexpected run came to a screeching halt on Sunday inside the Greensboro Coliseum. Pitt battled until the bitter end, but ultimately fell to a more talented Xavier squad.
“The ending is cruel because you're together, you're doing all these things, and then for everyone except for one team it comes to an abrupt end,” Capel told reporters after the game. “I know our guys are hurting. There is a game that we really wanted to win, and we had a chance, but we just came up short.”
Pitt looked up to the challenge against the Musketeers in the early going on Sunday, but Xavier found another gear late in the first half. A 7-0 run took the Musketeers’ lead from 30-24 to 37-24, and Xavier kept a double digit cushion on Pitt for most of the game.
Xavier led by as many as 20 points in the second half, but Greg Elliott’s three-pointer cut the deficit to 76-68 with 1:45 remaining. Xavier withstood the push, and dispatched the Panthers down the stretch.
Pitt never quit on Sunday.
Resiliency is a trait that this particular team has carried with them all season long, and they put up one last fight on the big stage. Capel was asked after the game how he wants this team to be remembered.
“A group of winners,” he said of the first Pitt team he has taken to the NCAA Tournament. “A group that's unbelievably connected, and guys that came in and believed in themselves, believed in each other, and believed in our program.”
The season ended on a sour note, but the story that unfolded over the last five months has been nothing short of remarkable. It has been repeated ad nauseam, but what the hell, here it is one more time.
Pitt was picked to finish 14th in the ACC. Capel himself was very much on the hot season after four straight losing seasons. The Panthers pieced together a roster of transfers and castoffs. Nobody gave them a chance, and at times, they did not even give themselves one either.
Pitt has been in its own way quite a bit in recent years. When returning star John Hugley opened the year with an injured knee and incoming top-recruit Dior Johnson got suspended before the season started, it felt like déjà vu. Throw in a 1-3 start to the season, you had to wonder where this thing would end up.
Well, it ended with 24 wins, Jeff Capel winning ACC Coach of the Year, and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2016. The Panthers not only made it to the tournament, they won two games for the first time since 2009.
Did anyone really think we would be having this conversation after that 1-3 start?
Jamarius Burton did.
The senior guard was not at his best on Sunday against Xavier, but he battled and managed to post 16 points and seven rebounds. Burton lived through Pitt’s 11-win season a year ago. He saw the first couple of games and all that was happening around him, but believed he was with the right core to do something meaningful.
“I knew it was possible with the group that we had,” Burton said after his final collegiate game. “This group is special. This group believed and this group was selfless from the start, and that was the biggest thing that allowed us to be able to sit here today.”
Pitt’s mantra all season was simple: be a good teammate. It sounded cheesy and quirky at times, but it’s something that needed to happen after some previous seasons ended with team turmoil. Nike Sibande has been with the program for three years and saw some of that stuff happen late in seasons. He’s had as many ups and downs at Pitt as anyone.
The senior guard scored six points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds against Xavier. He won ACC Sixth Man of the Year this season. Sibande played through some tough defeats, a season-long injury, lengthy losing streaks, and empty arenas during his time at Pitt, but his career ended with him talking at the podium of the NCAA Tournament.
“We've been very selfless all year, and we believed in each other and believed in the team and in our coaches as well,” Sibande said. “It's been a good ride…something that has been amazing for sure.”
While Burton and Sibande had been around prior to this season, Nelly Cummings was new to the situation.
The veteran point guard grew up in Western Pennsylvania and had an idea of what he was walking into at Pitt and wanted to help change the culture. Cummings was one of seven newcomers who came into the program in the offseason, and was a key component in making this group mesh together.
“We didn't know each other a year ago, so for us to accomplish the things we've accomplished, you know, be as connected as we are, deal with all the adversity we dealt with and still be able to come out here and make it almost to the Sweet 16, it's definitely something that none of us should take lightly,” Cummings said after the game. “You know, it sucks right now. It stings we just lost, but when you have a little bit of time to reflect, we accomplished a lot of things, so I think the bond that we have is definitely a reason for that.”
The story of the 2022-23 Pitt basketball team goes beyond what happened inside the Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday. The team lost, the run had to end eventually, but their legacy is more than an 11-point loss to Xavier. Pitt reversed the fortunes of the program, reinvigorated a fan base, and inspired hope for the future.
The four seniors took different paths to get to Pitt, but this team has never been about the individual, but rather the collective group. They left the arena on Sunday with a loss, but will walk away from this season as a group that did a lot to change the trajectory of Pitt basketball.