Postgame Reaction: Not Another ‘Embarrassment,’ But Pitt Not Happy with another Close Loss

RALEIGH, N.C. — On senior day against Syracuse at Petersen Events Center on Wednesday, Pitt looked like a team that just wanted to get the season over with.

They were dejected, despondent and looked totally out of gas.

Sophomore wing Au’Diese Toney called the performance “an embarrassment.”

Saturday against NC State, Pitt looked not just like a team that cared to upset the tournament-hopeful Wolfpack, they looked like the Pitt team that played so well through the first part of the season.

“It was just a big wakeup call,” Toney said. “We took it for granted and [Syracuse] ran with it early and that’s what happened.”

After leading the Wolfpack for over 30 minutes, Pitt couldn’t finish the job down the stretch on Saturday afternoon. Even though Pitt played much, much better, the Panthers aren’t satisfied after dropping their sixth straight game.

“You can never feel good about a loss,” Toney said. “It all doesn’t matter if you don’t get a win. It doesn’t matter, you’ve just got to take everything — positive and negative — and run with it, do the same things for the next game and try to get better.”

Here’s more from Toney, head coach Jeff Capel and forward Eric Hamilton.