Pitt Head Coach Jeff Capel
Opening Statement: “Really good win for us. We played really well. We continued to play defense at a high level and I think we had a carryover from the second half of our first game on the offensive end. The thing I was most pleased with tonight was how unselfish we were. As we continued to build a lead we continued to play the right way. We passed up a good shot for a great shot. Obviously it helps when you shoot as well as we did tonight making 13 threes, but I thought it was the manner of how we got them. We wanted to beat their two-three matchup down the court and we did a good job of that because our defense was good. We wanted to drive it and attack and kick and make the right play, and I thought our guys were really unselfish in doing that. It was great having Jared [Wilson-Frame] back. Jared’s our best shooter and he got it going for us in the first half, coming in and making his first three threes. Jared is a very important guy for us, not just because of his scoring, but his leadership and his confidence and his versatility. The thing I was most pleased with was that he had four assists and zero turnovers. During my time coaching Jared since I have been here I think that’s the thing I have been most surprised by is that he’s a good passer and I think he has a good feel for the game. I never saw that last year because he shot all the time, but he has other facets of his game that we have encouraged him to show and I think he’s done a really good job with that. Overall, really good win for us. This is three really good offensive half’s in a row for us and four really good defensive half’s and we need to continue that.”
Team
Pitt improves to 144-7 all-time in non-conference play at the Petersen Events Center The Panthers are now 66-2 all-time in the month of November at the Petersen Events Center Started three freshmen – Xavier Johnson, Trey McGowens and Au’Diese Toney – for the second consecutive game Used a 12-0 run after VMI scored the opening points of the game to take control … led by as many as 22 points in the opening half … added a 12-0 run at the beginning of the second half as well The Panthers shot 58.3 percent (14-of-24) in the opening half of play, recording 12 assists on 14 field goals Led the Keydets 54-5 in bench scoring Recorded 20+ fastbreak points for the second consecutive game … finished with 22 Recorded 39-point margin of victory (94-55) … its largest margin of victory since a 100-47 (+53) win over Central Arkansas Dec. 6, 2015 Finished with 24 assists … its most assists since recording 25 against Syracuse Feb. 11, 2017 Shot 13-of-25 (52.0 percent) from deep … five players finished the game with one or more three-point makes Pitt’s 94 points was its most since Dec. 28, 2016 when it scored 112 against Marshall Shot 33-of-52 (63.5 percent) from the field as a team … its best percentage since going 29-of-45 (64.4 percent) from the field Dec. 17, 2016 against Rice Outrebounded VMI 42-21 (+21 margin)
Head Coach Jeff Capel Improved to 103-28 at home as a head coach … moves to 164-110 overall
Jared Wilson-Frame Recorded his 24th career double-figure scoring game … topped the 20-point mark for the fifth time at Pitt Scored 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the foul line Knocked down his first three three-point attempts … finished 5-of-9 from beyond the arc for his 16th career game with three or more threes … matched his career high with five three-point field goals
Xavier Johnson Scored in double figures for the second consecutive game … finished with 14 points to go along with four rebounds, 10 assists and two steals Double-figure assist game is the 10th in program history by a freshman … 10 assists is tied for the sixth-most in a game by a Pitt freshman
Au’Diese Toney Scored in double figures for the second consecutive game … had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of3 from three-point range Grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Panthers for the second consecutive game
Khameron Davis Scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a 3-of-4 mark from beyond the arc … his third career double-figure scoring output for the Panthers Pitt is 3-0 in games Davis scores 10 or more www.pittsburghpanthers.com
Photo’s Vince Butts Urban Media Today
