Pitt’s Jeff Capel releases nonconference schedule, pleased Backyard Brawl with WVU will continue
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Pitt released its 11-game nonconference basketball schedule Wednesday, and coach Jeff Capel is pleased that it features four opponents from power conferences.
The highlight will be the hardwood version of the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia on Dec. 6 in Morgantown. It will be the 190th game in the series that dates to 1904.
Agreeing with remarks made earlier this summer by WVU athletic director Wren Baker, Capel said he would like to see the rivalry continue.
“I think it’s good for the fans,” Capel said. “It will be good for us playing against another Power 5 school.”
West Virginia has won the past six meetings between the schools, including an 81-56 Mountaineers victory last season at Petersen Events Center.
“We need to make it a rivalry again,” Capel said. “I know since it started again (after a five-year hiatus in the previous decade), Pitt hasn’t won. We need to do our part in making this thing a rivalry again.”
The other two nonconference games against power conference teams will be in the Preseason NIT at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 22 and 24 – the days before and after Thanksgiving. Opponents and start times will be announced at a later date, but Pitt will play two schools from among Baylor, Florida and Oregon State. Those two, plus West Virginia, are Pitt’s only road games outside the ACC.
The first two weeks of the season include games on Mondays and Fridays, starting with the opener Nov. 6 against North Carolina A&T. Pitt will serve as host to Binghamton on Nov. 10, Florida Gulf Coast on Nov. 13 and Jacksonville on Nov. 17. After returning from Brooklyn, Pitt will participate in the ACC-SEC Challenge on Nov. 28 against Missouri at the Pete.
The December schedule is lighter, with Pitt playing Canisius on Dec. 9, South Carolina State on Dec. 16 and Purdue Fort Wayne on Dec. 20.
Duke, Notre Dame, Syracuse and North Carolina will be among Pitt’s 10 home games in the ACC.
“It will be challenging for us,” Capel said of the nonconference games. “I think it will be a really good balance for a tough conference schedule. I think our nonconference schedule will really help prepare us for that.”
On a personnel matter, Capel said sophomore forward Jorge Diaz Graham will miss six weeks this summer with a foot injury and won’t be able to participate in games during the team’s trip to Spain from Aug. 5-14.
“It stinks he won’t be able to play over in Spain,” Capel said of Diaz Graham, a native of the Canary Islands. “We’re thankful and lucky that’s it’s not anything that’s a long-term thing.”
Capel said Diaz Graham should be able to resume practicing by the time students return to classes in late August.