Pitt Flashes Defensive Potential in Season Opener

PITTSBURGH -- Scoring 100 points in a 40-minute college basketball game is not easy. Typically, it requires superb shooting, crisp ball movement, a lot of luck and often, an overmatched opponent to beat up on. The Pitt Panthers had all of that and more when they decimated North Carolina A&T by a final score of 100-52, but their prolific offensive night began on the defensive end. 

The Panthers did a lot right last year on their way to the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in seven years and defending - at both a high and consistent level - was not one of them. That appears likely to change this year, as Pitt rolls out wave after wave of long athletes ready to clog passing lanes, block shots and run, run, run when the ball changes hands. 

"I thought our attention to detail defensively on the game plan and the scouting report - I thought all of our guys followed it to a T," head coach Jeff Capel said. "That led us to get out in transition to get some plays. I thought we executed very well in the half court."

The offense-to-defense phenomena began right away, when just four seconds passed between the moment Bub Carrington possessed a defensive rebound and Blake Hinson finished a fast break layup on the other end and Pitt kept running. 

The Panthers turned nine Aggie turnovers into 14 points and they scored 12 points off fast break opportunities, but it felt like much more. Pitt blocked nine shots, came up with five steals and owned a 43-19 advantage on the defensive glass. Those live-ball changes of possession became opportunities for the Panthers to flex their improved athleticism and length by running for easy buckets in transition. 

Everything came together for Pitt in this game - good perimeter defense from Leggett (particularly on the talented junior college transfer Landon Glasper, who made just 1-16 attempts from the field) coupled with rock-solid interior defense that held the Aggies to a 3-10 mark on layups led to Carrington, Ishmael Leggett, Jaland Lowe and even twin seven-footers Jorge and Guillermo Diaz Graham starting quick transition plays that North Carolina A&T had little hope of countering with Pitt's tremendous athletes finishing layups and dunks. 

Pitt shot supremely well in this game - 56.3% from the field and 41.4% from 3-point range - but those gaudy shooting numbers don't come without a good defensive effort kickstarting them. The Panthers are bigger this season, giving them more opportunities to force turnovers, block shots and defensive rebound at a rate that allows them to control the defensive end of the floor for longer periods of time and with greater intensity. 

This is just one game against a team that is likely to struggle for most of this season, but Pitt did exactly what they were supposed to do against a team of this caliber - dominate. They showed a desire to be better defensively and took care of business in a way that reflected the seriousness of that commitment. 

"We’re hungry for it," Jorge Diaz Graham said. "We went through it in practice and then we just executed and it went great."

Pitt certainly won't turn in similarly sterling defensive report cards all year long, but they have all the tools to lock down in a way they didn't last season and there's no reason why they can't become one of the better defensive teams in college basketball this season. 

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