Pitt hopes Zack Austin can continue disruptive play in season’s final weeks
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With the decisive 79-64 victory against Virginia Tech, Pitt knocked down the first of five or six (perhaps seven) obstacles standing between the team and a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid.
There is a lot of work to do, and the odds are against the Panthers. But the heaviest lifting will be required Tuesday during a visit to Clemson, ranked No. 24 by the NCAA Net and a Quad 1 opportunity for Pitt.
The Panthers, who are 19th in the nation and first in the ACC in 3-point defense (29.8%), played well in the second half against Virginia Tech, which missed 12 of 14 long-range attempts after halftime. Pitt shot 53.1% (17 of 32), was stingy on defense and dominant on the boards, especially forward Zack Austin.
“Just playing defense,” Austin said after the game, trying to downplay his role in the victory. “It wasn’t anything special. Just playing hard, crashing the boards.”
“No, it was special,” teammate Jaland Lowe said with a smile while sitting on the other side of coach Jeff Capel from Austin during the postgame news conference.
How else would you describe 14 rebounds, five blocks, nine points (including a 3-pointer) and a steal without a turnover in 30 minutes? It was the most minutes Austin has played since the Duke victory Jan. 20 and only two rebounds short of his total over the previous seven games.
“That’s what we expect out of him. That’s what he expects out of himself,” Lowe said. “It showed at what level he can play at all the time and how he can affect the game.”
“I thought he was tremendous,” Capel said of the athletically gifted Austin. “He’s talented. It’s just getting that motor going all the time. Hopefully, this is the start of that for him.”
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said he was surprised by Austin’s size.
“He’s a lot longer than I thought he was,” Young said. “He’s disruptive with his size and active with his hands.”
Getting the most out of everyone will be important for Pitt over the final weeks of the season. That’s especially true of players who operate close to the basket, such as the 6-foot-7 Austin. With 6-11 Jorge Diaz Graham out for the season after ankle surgery and freshman forwards Papa Kante (knee injury) and Marlon Barnes (redshirt) unavailable, Capel is largely using a seven-man rotation, with little room for error or fatigue. William Jeffress has had an important defensive role most of this season, but he has averaged only 6.4 minutes over the past five games.
And the games keep coming.
Pitt is facing another Saturday/Tuesday set of games, a sequence that resulted in the loss at Wake Forest last week. When it was Saturday/Wednesday on two recent occasions, Pitt won the second game both times.
Capel said he monitors players’ workloads in practice, and he’ll do the same leading up to the Clemson game, especially with travel involved again. It’s a good sign that players were stronger in the second half Saturday night, with Virginia Tech shooting 31% after halftime after hitting 50% of its shots in the first half.
“In the second half, we did a better job of defending them without fouling them,” Capel said.
“We knew in the second half we needed to bring it to another level,” Lowe said.