Pitt notebook: Blake Hinson's scoring binges partially tied to short memory

Pitt coach Jeff Capel and Wake Forest’s Steve Forbes understand the degree of difficulty involved in winning Tuesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Forbes has spent the better part of the past two days trying to figure out how to slow down Pitt’s Blake Hinson, who is third in the ACC in scoring (19.2 points per game), behind North Carolina’s R.J. Davis (21.3) and Clemson’s P.J. Hall (19.5). Hinson’s average jumps to 21.5, with 5.3 rebounds, in the past eight games, boosted by his 41 Saturday.

”You try to limit his touches the best you can, but that’s hard to do,” Forbes said, noting Pitt’s “creative ways” to get Hinson the basketball. “He’s going to make some tough ones. He’s as good a tough shot-maker as I’ve seen in a while. I’ve seen him do some things at Duke, at Virginia. You’re not going to win when (opponents) do that.

“He plays with a lot of confidence and his team feeds off his confidence.”

Capel said it’s a combination of skill and mentality that has led to Hinson’s scoring binges.

“You certainly have to have skill, but you have to have the confidence to believe in yourself to be able to live with the results,” he said. “If you miss, (don’t) let it affect you or get you down. That’s one of the things I admire about him. He’s willing to live with whatever results comes from one of those shots. It doesn’t get him where he stops believing in his ability to get hot and go on a run.”

Better at home

Meanwhile, Capel noted his team got “a little bit lucky” while defeating Wake Forest, 77-72, last month at Petersen Events Center. “They missed some shots they normally make and we expect them to make at home,” Capel said.

The Panthers are 6-2 on the road, tied with North Carolina for the best road record in the ACC. After stopping Virginia’s 23-game home winning streak last week, Pitt must deal with Wake Forest’s 13-0 home mark.

“We have to limit their transition,” Capel said. “They are very good in transition, especially at home. Crowd feeds off it. We have to contain dribble penetration. They normally have three guys at least on the floor who can all dribble, pass and shoot.”

Reid could be a factor

Wake Forest 7-footer Efton Reid III recorded a double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) against Pitt, but was not a factor after Capel slapped defensive ace Will Jeffress on him late in the game.

”If you try to double (Reid), they have such great shooting, play-making,” Capel said. “If you leave him by himself, one on one, he’s shown he can score the basketball at a really, really high percentage and do it very efficiently.”

Reid nearly committed to Pitt three years ago before choosing LSU and later transferring to Gonzaga and Wake Forest. He is shooting 51.7% from the field at the three schools.

Playing a clean game

Probably the most impressive aspect of Pitt’s 7-1 record since Jan. 20 has been its ability to minimize turnovers and their effect. Pitt has committed more than 10 only twice in those eight games — and won both times — while totaling 11 in victories at Virginia (eight) and against Louisville (three).

”That’s an area where we’ve been pretty good all year,” Capel said, without mentioning Pitt is third in the ACC in least number of turnovers per game (9.52). “Our guys have a good feel of what we want to do offensively. We’ve been able to play against different styles, whether it’s physicality, whether it’s pressure.

”Now, it’s something we have to continue to do. Wake Forest can really apply pressure on the perimeter. Their ball-screen defense, they changed it a little bit from when we played them the last time. They get after you a little bit more.”

Love those Quads

Pitt may need to win all six of its remaining games before the ACC Tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament, but the next four are the toughest — Wake Forest on the road, Virginia Tech at home Saturday, at Clemson on Feb. 27 and at Boston College on March 2. All four are Quad 1 or Quad 2 opportunities.

Pitt, which is No. 47 in the NCAA Net rankings, is only 4-6 in those games.

More numbers

The other impressive stat is Pitt allowing teams to shoot only 29.7% from beyond the 3-point line. It should be a good matchup: Wake Forest is fourth in the ACC in 3-point percentage (36.8).