There isn’t much Pitt could have proven Saturday while thoroughly defeating South Carolina State, 86-50.

As soon as Pitt got over its malaise, possibly caused by a week without playing a game, the Bulldogs simply were outmanned and had no answers. South Carolina State is the fourth opponent this season that failed to score more than 56 points.

In the end, it was six up, six down for Pitt against mid-major competition.

Some highlights of those games so far:

• Pitt reached the century mark in scoring twice (100 and 107 against North Carolina A&T and Jacksonville).

• The average margin of defeat was 31.1 points, even with a couple of scares thrown in by Florida Gulf Coast (86-74) and Canisius (82-71).

• The Panthers will take a scoring average of 82.8 (40th nationally) into their final nonconference game Wednesday against Purdue Fort Wayne. The scoreboard operator will be busy. The Mastodons (11-1) are 12th (86.8).

Coach Jeff Capel made two significant changes to the starting lineup Saturday, benching Zack Austin and Federiko Federiko for the first time and replacing them with William Jeffress and Guillermo Diaz Graham.

Benching is probably not an accurate description of what Capel did. Federiko and Austin did not start, but both were on the court long enough (Federiko 17 minutes; Austin 15) to finish third and fourth among Pitt’s scorers. Austin had 12 points, Federiko eight.

Now, Pitt (8-3, 0-1 ACC) has nine players who are averaging at least 12 minutes, including Jaland Lowe, a gem of a backup point guard, and Jorge Diaz Graham.

Whether nine players will continue to receive significant minutes Wednesday and throughout the season is another issue. It’s much easier to sub against South Carolina State than it will be Dec. 30 when Pitt visits Syracuse and later through January and February when the competition will be exclusively from the ACC.

It’s clear, however, that Pitt needs Federiko, Austin and the Graham twins to patrol the paint and alter opponents’ shots. Federiko (18), Austin (16) and Guillermo Diaz Graham (nine) recorded 43 of Pitt’s 57 blocks in the first 11 games.

Federiko had a total of only 14 points and 11 rebounds in the four games before Saturday, but Capel said he will continue to rely on him.

“He’s a good player. We need him,” the coach said. “His teammates love him. We love him.

“I do think part of it has been mental. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. As a player, you know when you don’t play well. I can say this because I was like this as a player, you don’t want to disappoint. Sometimes, if you feel like you are disappointing, that can pull you deeper into a shell.

“He just needs to play. He just needs to let it out, get after it, be who he is because he’s different than anyone we have on our team.”

Capel said he was pleased to see Guillermo Diaz Graham, the tallest player on the team at 7-foot, get mad Saturday when he got poked in the eye. He was out for a short time but returned to the court before the end of the game.

“He’s a talented young kid. He can do a lot. We’re expecting him to do a lot,” Capel said, noting Diaz Graham becomes 7-foot-8 when he raises his arms. “He’s not the strongest guy, although he’s gotten stronger.

“Toughness can be defined in many different ways. You don’t have to be some big, strong, buff dude to be tough. He’s tough in his own way.”

Whether he starts or comes off the bench, Jeffress has a place on the court because of his defense and ability to connect with his teammates in real time.

“He does a really, really good job of talking, which is very, very important, especially defensively,” Capel said. “That connects the other four guys out there.

“A connector is someone who really understands their role. They make the group that they’re in with better, and they do it by connecting everyone.”

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