Pitt finds its shooting touch in 87-58 victory over Northwestern

After Pitt’s 87-58 victory against Northwestern on Monday night, graduate transfer Greg Elliott and coach Jeff Capel were talking about the basketball like it was a living, breathing entity.

That would be a story worth telling, of course. But over the past eight days, Pitt (5-3) has been making real news, winning four in a row, including its most complete performance of the season Monday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Evanston, Ill.

The basketball was going through the cords with regularity, with Pitt hitting 48.1% of its shots (26 of 54), including 63.6% (14 of 22) from beyond the 3-point arc. What’s even more amazing is Pitt was shooting 29.8% from long range through its first seven games.

But the way those shots happened was what made the victory special in Capel’s mind. Pitt recorded 22 assists, almost one for every basket, while the starters committed only eight turnovers.

“The basketball has energy. It can be positive. It can be negative,” said Elliott, speaking on the postgame show on 93.7 The Fan. “If the ball is popping around like it was, that’s nothing but positive energy.”

Added coach Jeff Capel: “The ball had energy. It found the right guys.”

Five Pitt players scored in double digits, led by Blake Hinson (22), who pumped his average to 16.7 points per game. He also contributed eight rebounds and five assists.

Elliott, who had been shooting 34%, added 18 points, followed by Nelly Cummings (17 and six assists), Jamarius Burton (14 and seven) and Nike Sibande (11 and four).

The 87-point output is the largest by the Panthers on an opponent’s home floor since an 89-78 victory at Seton Hall on Feb. 28, 2009 (the Elite 8 team). It also was Pitt’s fourth total this season of 80 or more points after getting none last season.

“I’m really, really proud of our guys. What a complete performance,” Capel said. “The thing I was most proud of was how we shared the ball. That was the big thing.

“We weren’t concerned about who was scoring. We were concerned about Pitt scoring, and it was really beautiful to watch.”

Shooting lanes opened when Northwestern (5-2) started double- and triple-teaming center John Hugley, who ended up without a point in 14 minutes while he continues to recover from a knee injury.

“We wanted to go from a good shot to a great shot,” Elliott said. “Instead of taking that first one off a good pass, it was a good look, but you know your teammate is wide open. So, why not do it?

“I, actually, had been missing a lot lately. That had been on my mind. It never was on my teammates’ mind. They were always, `Greg, keep shooting.’ That’s what I did.

“We broke down the film, and it came down to getting them moving side to side and once we got them moving side to side and they were chasing us, we knew we had them where we wanted them and we executed.”

Northwestern’s most recent game before Monday was a 43-42 loss to No. 15 Auburn on Wednesday at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico. The Wildcats came into the game allowing an average of 51.7 points per game, fourth in the nation.

Pitt reached 43 within the first two minutes of the second half. In fact, Pitt became the first team to score more than 63 against the Wildcats when Hinson hit a 3-pointer for a 64-38 lead with 11 minutes, 36 seconds left in the game. Pitt’s largest lead was 78-46 with 6:06 left and 87-55 four minutes later.

The game was tight for most of the first half before Hinson and Cummings each hit two 3-pointers to turn a 16-16 tie into a 30-20 lead.

Capel attributed the decisive victory to a good practice Sunday. He said his players hadn’t been able to have a complete practice for several days because of the busy schedule last week that included three games in six days. Pitt won those games, but had not played well in the first half.

“Sunday was the first day we practiced in a while,” Capel said. “For the first time, we actually had a pretty good first half. I think it’s because we were able to practice a little bit and were able to get up and down a little bit so we were in game mode.”

Elliott said getting out on the road as a team also helped.

“We came out with a different energy. We hadn’t played with that energy,” he said. “I feel like we just needed a little break from Pittsburgh for a little while. Coming out here on the road gave us a different kind of spark and we used it.”

The Panthers are off until Friday when they play their first ACC game against N.C. State in Raleigh, N.C.

“We have to use (Monday) and (allow it to) propel us to our next game,” Elliott said. “You can feel good about it, but by the time we fly home, though, it’s over with.

“Close the book on this game, learn from it and get ready for the next one.”