Pitt basketball improves to 4-0 with 107-56 victory against Jacksonville

The time has come for Pitt’s basketball team to step into the big leagues. So far, coach Jeff Capel likes what he has seen from his rebuilt roster.

Four victories in four outings against mid-majors, most recently an easy 107-56 win Friday night against Jacksonville (2-2) in front of a crowd of 7,842 at Petersen Events Center.

But Capel is eager to see how his team responds when confronted with serious competition. The first real test of the season will occur Wednesday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., against Florida (3-1) in the Preseason NIT.

The Gators’ only loss was to Virginia, 73-70. While Pitt was toying with Jacksonville, Florida was pounding Florida State, 89-68.

“Certainly, we understand that next week will be very different,” Capel said. “Florida is a different level. It’s a Power 5. We’re playing in New York. It’s a tournament. There’s an opportunity to win a championship.

“We’re really, really excited to go up there and see where we are against that type of competition.”

Pitt set aside thoughts of future games Friday while dominating Jacksonville with a combination of defense, rebounding, slick passing that resulted in 24 assists on 33 baskets, proper spacing and shooting.

Blake Hinson led Pitt with 25 points, 21 in the first half. Guillermo Diaz Graham scored a career-high 23 with 10 rebounds, and Bub Carrington had 17 points, making 5 of 8 3-pointers.

Ishmael Leggett had 14 points and nine rebounds, Jaland Lowe contributed five assists, and Leggett, Carrington and Diaz Graham had four assists each.

For the game, Pitt shot 45.8% (33 of 72), including 15 of 35 (42.9%) from beyond the 3-point arc.

“I want them shooting those shots,” Capel said.

Pitt scored the game’s first 10 points, and Jacksonville was scoreless for nearly six minutes at the start. The Dolphins finally recorded their second field goal with nine minutes left in the first half.

“They had two points for a long time,” Leggett said. “That was a testament to how hard we were playing and the look the scouting (report) gave us.”

On offense, Leggett said, “The ball definitely had energy and was finding the right person. We trust each other’s shot-making abilities and judgment. So, it showed (Friday).”

Capel agreed that his program is further along after four games than it was at the same point last season when Pitt lost three of its first four games.

“We have a good core group of guys back that understand what we’re trying to do,” he said. “Because of that, they are able to help the young guys and the new guys along.

“Zack (Austin) and Ish (Leggett) both have a lot of game experience (as transfers). They’ve been able to pick things up as far as what we want to do pretty quickly. I think our freshmen (Carrington and Lowe), mentally, are a little bit more advanced than, certainly, maybe, I was as a freshman (at Duke) or your normal freshmen, just because of their backgrounds.

“(It’s) just an organic camaraderie these guys have been able to develop since they’ve been here.”

What most pleased Capel was how his players, especially Diaz Graham and his twin brother, Jorge, were able to push back against a team that collected 20 offensive rebounds in a 79-56 loss to Xavier last week.

“The identity of (Jacksonville’s) team is physicality and rebounding,” Capel said.

Jacksonville had only three offensive rebounds against Pitt.

“I thought we played with great spirit, great togetherness and toughness and it was as complete a performance as we’ve had this year,” Capel said. “That’s encouraging. Something to build on. We’re excited about it. We’re proud of it, but we’re excited to move on to the next one.”

Capel said his post players didn’t play up to their standard Monday in an 86-74 victory against Florida Gulf Coast. He said players came to practice — after an off day Tuesday — ready to work.

“I thought we had a really good practice Wednesday,” the coach said. “That’s toughness to be able to come back after an off day, to show up ready to work, ready to get better, ready to learn, to take criticism, constructive criticism, to not take it personally and to use it as a challenge and motivation. You saw that (in a 51-29 rebounding advantage Friday).

“We maybe didn’t play as well in the post against Florida Gulf Coast. I thought our post guys dominated the game (Friday) with defense, with rebounding. If you can show up at a really high level every day, that’s a level of toughness you can’t teach and our guys are learning to do that.”

Capel said offseason work by the Diaz Graham twins is paying off in games.

“Those guys put in a lot of work this summer. You can see it in their bodies. You can see it in their games,” Capel said. “How they’re able to play through physicality. Last year against this team, they both would have got pushed around. This year, they were able to push back, hold their ground, finish through some things.”