It was not an encouraging day for Pitt on the defensive side of the ball when the Panthers outlasted Canisius 87-79 on Monday at the Petersen Events Center. The 79 points scored by the Golden Griffins was the most Pitt has allowed all season. Pitt also surrendered 17 offensive rebounds which allowed Canisius to stay in the game up until the closing minutes.
While the 79 points was out of the ordinary for Pitt to allow on defense, the 87 points the offense scored was also a season-high for the Panthers. Pitt shot 50% from the field, up from the 41.4% season average. Pitt also connected on 56.3% from 3-point land, much better than the team’s 26.7% average.
The improvement on offense is something Jeff Capel has been seeing from his team in recent weeks.
“I think overall with the exception of today that the turnovers have been down,” Capel said of the offense. "I think our execution has been a little bit better. I think we’ve shared the ball a little bit better. Those areas right there, those are the main areas. And then our defense has been able to create some offense from our defense.” Pitt forced 20 turnovers from Cansius and turned that into 18 points.
The offensive explosion by the Panthers was spearheaded by freshman forward Justin Champagnie. The Brooklyn native scored a team-high 21 points and made 5-of-6 3-pointers on Monday. He opened the game with 8 quick points to give Pitt an early edge. Champagnie entered the game shooting just 16% from three, but on Monday he found his shot. He attributes that to extra work he's taken on his shooting.
“After those games where I had zero and one, Coach said I just have to get in the gym and shoot, so every day I shoot,” Champagnie said. “I was shooting with [Au’Diese Toney] last night.”
Capel has said the extra work helped for his star freshman, and while today was a good showing, it’s an ongoing process for Champagnie and his whole team to be better shooters.
“Well he’s been shooting, extra work,” said Capel. “We do a lot of shooting in practice and he just made them tonight. He can go 0-for-5 the next game, hopefully he doesn’t. I’ve said all along we’re a really inconsistent shooting team and we were on one of those streaks tonight where we made them.”
Pitt also got a strong showing from Ryan Murphy off the bench. The junior college transfer finished with 16 points and made four 3-pointers. After starting for a long stretch of games, he has found a role coming off the bench.
“I think he’s played better off the bench,” Capel explained. “If you look at his games, those have been his best games off the bench. He’s going to play minutes for us and he’s an important part of our team whether he’s starting or coming off the bench. I’m not saying I’m married to him coming off the bench, but I think he’s done a really good job for us in that role. Whatever role we put him in we need him.”
While Murphy and Champagnie carried the team offensively throughout the first half, it was still a heavy dose of Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens down the stretch. Johnson scored 14 of his 16 in the second half, while McGowens supplied 10 points in the second.
That added emphasis of the two guards was by design.
“We wanted the ball in their hands, we feel very confident and comfortable with them with the ball in their hands making the correct play, whether it’s them scoring for themselves, creating something for someone else,” the Pitt coach said of his star sophomore backcourt.
The Pitt offense played well on Monday, and the team should be getting a boost as it heads into ACC play. Freshman wing Gerald Drumgoole suited up after missing the past eight games with an ankle injury. He provided a modest four points. He can be a big shooting threat for this team, and his road to recovery should only help Pitt from an outside shooting standpoint as the season progresses.
“I thought he did well, except for the one pass that he tried to make,” Capel said of his freshman. “He’s practiced well and it’s good to have him back. It gives us a little bit more perimeter depth. Obviously he’s got to get in shape, that’s the big thing. He’s got to get in physical condition to be able to compete for extended minutes at a high level. So it was good to get him in this game and we’ll see what happens with him moving forward.”
Pitt will look to continue its hot shooting as the team heads into ACC play. The Panthers will take on Wake Forest Saturday at noon at the Petersen Events Center.
