MORE FROM THE GAME - Pitt upsets No. 11 Florida State | Postgame video: Capel and players discuss the win | Capel discusses the win, the fearless freshmen and not being afraid

With 9:32 left in the game, Pitt’s newfound shot-blocking ace Terrell Brown swatted the shot of Florida State’s behemoth 7’4” center Christ Koumandje, and the ball landed in the hands of Pitt freshman guard Trey McGowens. The lightning-quick McGowens wasted little time and flew up the court and somehow, someway the ball ended up in the basket on a circus shot as he drew the foul.

“I’m fearless, I guess,” McGowens said modestly after he finished with 30 points, his second 30-point outburst in three games.

The Panthers increased their lead to 55-49, and the boisterous Oakland Zoo created a roar from yesteryear, and everyone in the gym started to sense Pitt was going to pull the upset of the 11th-ranked Seminoles. Unlike Saturday’s near upset of North Carolina State, Pitt found the energy to not only maintain the lead, but also found a way to increase it.

Brown was quick to point out the difference between Saturday and Monday, “The energy. The Zoo was alive,” he said.

Capel echoed those thoughts. “I thought the energy from the crowd helped us, and we were able to make a couple of plays.”

Call it energy, call it home-court advantage, but this young team is starting to find ways to win games well ahead of schedule. Just a year ago, the Petersen Events Center was a ghost town and the team finished 0-18 in ACC play. Now, just four games into the ACC slate, the Panthers sparked by a three-headed monster of freshmen, have collected two key conference wins, and dare I say resume-building wins?

OK, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Pitt is still a young team that was picked last in the ACC, but however things go for this team moving forward, it will be exciting to watch, and it appears other coaches in the ACC are taking notice.

“I think the people in Pittsburgh should be very happy that they have a guy who’s come in and kind of brought that swagger back that Pitt’s been accustomed to for over a number of years,” Florida State veteran coach Leonard Hamilton said. “We all know that The Zoo has always been a difficult place for people to come in and play against, and tonight we just got a little taste of that.”

The Seminoles shot just 8-of-34 in the second half as the Panthers slowly mounted a lead thanks to a strong finish by McGowens, and fellow freshman Xaiver Johnson. The Panthers’ point guard struggled with some turnovers on Monday, but as Florida State started to inch back into the game, Johnson took it upon himself to score five straight points to raise the lead back to ten, and the Panthers secured the win at the free-throw line.

“I believe in Xavier and I believe in all of our guys, but I believe in him to make big-time plays,” Capel said of his point guard. “He (Koumandje) was able to stay back and use his length and I thought that confused him a bit, but he was able to make some of the biggest plays down the stretch for us and we have a lot of confidence in him doing that.”

Pitt will now turn it’s attention to Syracuse on Saturday. The Orange just upset No. 1 Duke with a 95-91 overtime win in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It will be a challenge for the young Panthers, as they will travel to a tough place to play in the Carrier Dome, against a tough assignment dealing with Jim Boeheim’s vaunted 2-3 zone. However it shakes out, Capel has continued to believe in his team when it has been thrown new scenarios this season.

“Not one time this year have they been afraid."