Pitt reaches the midway point of its ACC schedule Saturday when it ventures into Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C., to meet Wake Forest. Not that it matters, but Pitt is 0-6 there.
Given recent history, it’s difficult to tell which Pitt team will show up:
• The Panthers (14-6, 5-4) who started the season 12-2, won on the road at Syracuse and humbled North Carolina …
• … or the Panthers who were not in the same league with Duke and lost four in a row, including a 12-point decision at Florida State, a loser in three of its next four?
A victory at Wake Forest (No. 69 in the NCAA NET rankings) would only be Pitt’s second against a Quad 1 opponent. The game is important for that reason alone.
Wake Forest (15-6, 7-3) has lost two in a row, so what viewers will get at noon on ESPN2 are two teams desperate for a victory. Meanwhile, some thoughts:
1. Bracket talk
With more than a month left in the regular season, there’s no time like the present for bracketologists Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Jerry Palm of CBS to get to work — as if these guys ever sleep. Lunardi famously releases his first bracket for the following season not long after the national championship in April.
Pitt is a No. 10 seed in both analysts’ most recent projections. Lunardi said it’s Pitt vs. St. John’s and coach Rick Pitino in the round of 64. Palm counters with Pitt vs. UCLA. Wake Forest is a No. 11 seed in the First Four, according to Palm. Lunardi lists them as one of the “Next 4 Out.”
Perhaps the ACC will send only four, five or six teams to the tournament, with Duke on its way to a No. 1 seed, followed by Louisville (the second-best team in the conference). Clemson, Pitt, Wake Forest, SMU and North Carolina are the best of the rest.
2. How good is Wake Forest?
Less than a week ago, Wake Forest looked like No. 2 behind Duke in the ACC. That was after a 63-56 home loss to Duke in which the Demon Deacons were up four with seven minutes to play. It was Wake Forest’s only home loss in 11 games.
“We put ourselves in position to (win),” coach Steve Forbes said. “We just weren’t very effective against the zone. Kudos to them.”
Forbes said he liked the way his team defended Duke’s Cooper Flagg, who still ended up with 24 points. “He’s just that good.”
Three days later, Wake Forest ventured into the Yum! Center in Louisville, fell behind 45-21 at halftime and lost 72-59. But before losing to the ACC’s best teams, Wake Forest won its previous six in a row, including a one-point victory against North Carolina and an 18-point blowout (77-59) of N.C. State.
The consensus around the ACC is that the Demon Deacons play good defense, at least better than last year when they allowed Pitt to score 81 in a conference tournament quarterfinal game.
Wake Forest is second in the ACC in forcing turnovers (14.1 per game), whereas Pitt averages the second-fewest (9.9) — another storyline to watch. Forbes said 6-foot, 170-pound guard Ty-Laur Johnson gets some of the credit. Johnson recorded eight assists and one turnover against Duke.
Hunter Sallis, who was first-team All-ACC last season, will be the shooter atop Pitt’s scouting report. He averages 18.6 points, fifth in the ACC and one point better than the Panthers’ Jaland Lowe.
3. Glass woes
Pitt is not a good rebounding team, and coach Jeff Capel constantly is asked about it. He said the team has done extra work in practice, but he added, “Doesn’t seem like it.”
“We’ve tried to work on it. We’ve emphasized it. We’ll continue to do it, try to find some different things to do. Hopefully, we’re better at it.”
Pitt is one of only five teams in the ACC allowing more rebounds (696) than it gets (689). Wake Forest is one of the others.
4. Iron men
In the victory against North Carolina, Capel went only two deep on his bench, using Guillermo Diaz Graham for 18 minutes and his twin brother Jorge for four. It was the third game in a row that reserves totaled less than 40 minutes.
In the past six, freshmen Brandin Cummings (39 minutes, total), Papa Kante (18) and Amsal Delalic (six) have been used sparingly. Meanwhile, Lowe is second in the ACC (35.7 minutes per game) and Ishmael Leggett (34.7) fourth. Zack Austin and Cam Corhen are averaging 30 and 29.9 minutes.
Can’t blame Capel. Four of the past five games have been decided by four, three, four and eight points. Hello, you play to win the game. Capel was doing what he thought was best to break the losing streak.
“If you get minutes, you have to come in, you have to play well,” Capel said. “It doesn’t mean scoring. Jorge defended the heck out of (North Carolina’s) R.J. Davis. You have to know what we’re doing defensively. You can’t be a guy they just try to pick on. You have to be able to stand up.
“We believe in those guys. We’ll see how the game goes.”
5. Corhen sees all
Corhen, a 6-10 forward, said he is responsible for communicating on defense, making sure everyone is deployed properly. He’s at the back of the alignment, looking forward. So, he sees everything.
“I’m supposed to be the loudest,” he said. “I definitely need to do a better job with that, just make sure everybody can hear me.”
Corhen probably has the best view of Austin’s acrobatics, especially his dunks and blocks that led to victory against North Carolina. He has trouble believing his eyes.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s crazy,” Corhen said. “I’ve played with some athletes, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything like Zack Austin.”
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
While it’s still early in the season, Pitt has shown promise with key wins and a strong performance in the ACC. With standout players like Justin Champagnie leading the way, the Panthers have the potential to make a deep run in March.
As we look ahead to the tournament, it’s important for Pitt fans to keep an eye on their team’s performance and how they stack up against other top contenders. With a strong showing in conference play and a solid resume, the Panthers could find themselves in a favorable seed come Selection Sunday.
So as we eagerly await the matchup against Wake Forest, let’s start the conversation about Pitt’s bracketology prospects and get ready for an exciting journey to March Madness. Let’s go Panthers! #H2P #Bracketology #MarchMadness.
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