Pitt men's basketball brought back to earth with loss to Nicholls State

Jeff Capel doesn’t expect anyone to be lauding the Pitt men’s basketball program.

The second-year Panthers coach knows adjustments will be necessary after losing to Nicholls State on Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Pitt looked uneasy on offense and played with a general malaise during a 75-70 loss.

Any goodwill the Panthers (1-1) accrued when they opened their season with an ACC win over Florida State on Wednesday night is gone.

“I don’t know if it’s a hangover from the last game,” Capel said. “We have to grow up. We’re not as good as our guys think we are or we think we are. People have been patting them on the back for a night and two days. They won’t be getting pats today. It’s a great lesson to learn.”

Pitt, which next plays Tuesday at Robert Morris in the Colonials’ new UPMC Events Center, stumbled with consistency protecting the ball at the start.

The Colonels, who were picked to finish 11th in the Southland Conference, opened with a 9-1 run and led for all but 52 seconds.

Pitt, trailing 73-70, had an opportunity to tie the score late, but Nicholls State’s Elvis Harvey Jr. stripped the ball from guard Ryan Murphy with 10 seconds left. Andre Jones made a layup as time expired to seal the win.

The Colonels forced 21 turnovers.

“We had to mix it up a lot today because their guards are good,” Colonels coach Austin Claunch said. “You can’t give them the same look every time. … For us, we wanted to do a number of things throughout the game to make them uncomfortable.”

Murphy, who scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed five rebounds, said speed made the traps effective.

“They came fast and quick,” Murphy said.

Nicholls State trapped effectively and forced turnovers in what was a nightmarish afternoon for Pitt, which entered the game as 18.5-point favorites.

Panthers graduate transfer forward Eric Hamilton put Pitt ahead 1-0 when he made a free throw 23 seconds into the contest. Nicholls State went ahead for good after going on a 9-1 run that was capped by a Kevin Johnson 3-pointer with 15 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first half.

The Panthers struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 25 percent (4 of 16). Xavier Johnson and Trey McGowens finished with 10 points each for Pitt.

Nicholls State led 41-31 at halftime, building their lead behind excellent 3-point shooting and finished the game shooting 45.8 percent (11 of 24).

“They are a really streaky team,” Murphy said. “If they’re hot, they’re hot. If they’re off, they’re off. Tonight, they were hot.”

D’Angelo Hunter led Nicholls State with 17 points, and Johnson added 16.

Pitt was able to battle back in the second half to cut the lead to one several times. Xavier Johnson got the deficit down to 60-59 on a layup with 4:05 remaining. But Pitt turned the ball over on its next two possessions, and the Colonels stretched the lead back to 67-59 after a Kevin Johnson three with 2:26 remaining.

Nicholls State had the energy to finish the fight.

“There were a lot of tough plays where we could have folded,” Claunch said. “I just think our experience, part of that is the Illinois game, the trust we have showed in those last waning moments.”