Without John Hugley, Pitt loses consolation game of Legends Classic, 71-67
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When dissecting what went wrong Thursday night in VCU’s 71-67 victory against Pitt at Barclays Center, it’s important to note that both teams played without their best players.
While playing 22 minutes upon his return from a six-week absence due to a preseason knee injury, John Hugley hurt the other knee Wednesday in the first round of the Legends Classic. He watched the two-night tournament’s consolation game Thursday in street clothes.
VCU point guard Adrian Baldwin, who scored 24 points in the Rams’ first two games, missed his second in a row with a wrist injury, and the Rams often struggled to find a good rhythm on offense against Pitt.
On somewhat even ground, VCU (3-1) made the most of Pitt’s mistakes, scoring 23 points off the Panthers’ 18 turnovers.
After Pitt (1-3) seized a 60-56 lead with 2 minutes, 22 seconds to play, the Rams hit 11 of 13 free throws, holding onto a victory earned with only 20 made baskets in 49 shots from the field (40.8%).
Pitt had 24 field goals, but made only 14 of 21 free throws. VCU was 26 of 35 from the foul line. Free throws by the winner and turnovers by the loser decided the outcome.
“The guys played hard, (giving) the effort that’s required for you to have a chance to be a good basketball team,” Pitt associate head coach Milan Brown said on the 93.7 FM postgame show. “Which is what you want to do and what we’re going to become.
“Tough way for the game to end with that type of effort.”
The game introduced Pitt’s freshman Diaz Graham twins, Jorge and Guillermo, to big-time college basketball.
After Federiko Federiko (6-foot-11) started for Hugley and got into foul trouble, coach Jeff Capel used the twin bigs – Guillermo is 7-foot, Jorge 6-11 – to give Pitt a presence in the paint.
Jorge scored 10 points with five rebounds in 20 minutes; Guillermo’s stat line read seven points, seven rebounds and three steals in 30 minutes.
“They were terrific. They came in and gave great energy,” coach Jeff Capel said. “It really ignited the rest of our guys.”
“All of a sudden, your number is called,” Brown said. “Being in those situations, it was tough having those young guys out there, but I thought they competed and did a good job and showed some of the flashes of why we brought them here.
“They’re going to have a chance to be really good. The biggest thing with them is just going to be getting stronger and continuing to learn the game and continuing to play the right way.
“We were definitely pleasantly surprised to see them play this way in that type of moment.”
After Pitt stumbled to a 30-24 halftime deficit, the Panthers went on 17-5 and 9-0 runs in the second half.
Guards Blake Hinson and Jamarius Burton led the scoring with 18 and 14 points, hitting a total of 12 shots among 21 attempts. Burton added seven rebounds and four assists.
Point guard Nelly Cummings added a season-high 11 points with two steals. He also committed five turnovers and did not record an assist.
“Hopefully, we learned from it,” Brown said, hoping the way Pitt fought back in the second half eventually will lead to more positive results. “We are definitely proud of the effort.
“When you get used to playing that hard, some of the silly mistakes may not happen.”
In the end, the difference in free-throw shooting was difficult for the Panthers to swallow. While his players committed 27 fouls, Capel was forced to replace several who were in foul trouble. Guillermo Diaz Graham fouled out and four others finished the game with four personals.
“The thing we have to do better is play without fouling,” Capel said. “That disjoints us. It’s gets us out of rhythm. This is the third game in a row. It’s something I have to help us do better.”
“It’s a tough loss to lose a free-throw contest,” Brown said. “If we continue to defend and they only make 20 baskets, we’re going to have a chance to be good as long as they don’t shoot almost 40 free throws.”