Pitt, N.C. State set to tangle in Raleigh, hoping to polish their reputations
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Over the next week that includes two difficult road games, Pitt can enhance or damage its reputation relative to the rest of the ACC.
Going into its game Wednesday night in Raleigh, N.C., against N.C. State, Pitt (14-8, 5-6) is tied for eighth in the 15-team conference, a middle-of-the-road team by any definition.
After getting the upcoming weekend off, Pitt travels to Virginia (18-5, 9-3) next Tuesday for probably its toughest opponent since the three games against North Carolina and Duke. Virginia is the only ACC team — other than the No. 3 Tar Heels and No. 9 Blue Devils — garnering votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
This week, seven voters listed Virginia on their ballots — up from one the previous week.
Meanwhile, Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology inserts four ACC teams into his projected 68-team NCAA Tournament, led by No. 1-seeded North Carolina, followed by No. 3 Duke, No. 8 Clemson and No. 10 Virginia. Wake Forest, a team that lost to Pitt, is categorized as one of the last four out.
Pitt coach Jeff Capel, not speaking from a neutral viewpoint, told reporters on the ACC coaches conference call Monday that he doesn’t look at Bracketology or the polls.
“I hear about them because I hear people complaining about them, people on my staff,” he said. “I try not to look at it because it doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t understand it. I don’t. For the life of me, I don’t.
“I know what my eyes see. It’s frustrating that a lot of people sit behind a computer and look at numbers, and that’s the metrics they come up with. Maybe some of these other teams in other conferences have figured out how to game the system and to manipulate the numbers.”
There is plenty of time remaining for ACC teams, including Pitt and N.C. State, to polish their reputations. But the polishing must start immediately.
N.C. State (15-7, 7-4) was No. 76 in the NCAA Net rankings Tuesday, one spot below what would be a Quad 1 victory for Pitt (a road win against a top-75 team).
Nonetheless, the N.C. State game is important for No. 64 Pitt, which is only 3-6 against Quad 1 and 2 opponents.
Capel acknowledges that it won’t be easy to defeat the Wolfpack, which has won its past two games against Miami and Georgia Tech after losing its previous three in a row.
“The first thing that really stands out is the joy they seem to have playing with each other,” Capel said Monday after spending much of the weekend studying N. C. State video. “It looks like on film that (coach Kevin Keatts) has a really good group that he really likes and they really like each other.
“Obviously, the talent stands out with (D.J.) Horne, with (Casey) Morsell, with (D.J.) Burns.”
Horne, a 6-foot-1 guard, is 12th in the ACC with a 15.7 scoring average. Morsell, a 6-3 guard, averages 12.3 points per game. Burns, a 6-9, 275-pound forward who presents a big challenge for Pitt’s Federiko Federiko (6-11, 225), shoots 50% from the field, sixth in the conference.
“They’re a really athletic team,” Capel said. “They pressure you defensively. They push it in transition. They usually have at least three, a lot of times four guys, out there who can break you down off the bounce. That can be difficult to defend.”
Keatts is concerned with Pitt’s Blake Hinson, who is “playing at another level,” he said. Hinson leads the ACC in total 3-pointers (74) and is fourth in long-range accuracy (42%). As a team, Pitt leads the ACC with an average of 9.3 per game and have made 10 or more 11 times.
“They’re elite when they’re making 3s,” Keatts said. “Hinson is playing at another level because of his ability to play inside-out. He kind of makes them go. He makes as many tough 3s as anybody in our league.”