PITTSBURGH — For the second consecutive season, Pitt has started its men’s basketball season with a home loss to a mid-major.
After a narrow loss to St. Francis to start the 2020-21 season, the Panthers started the 2021-22 campaign with a home date against The Citadel Bulldogs, a .500 team out of the Southern Conference.
Instead of a close loss, this year Pitt was run out of own building.
The Citadel opened up the game on a 14-2 run and never trailed by fewer than nine points the rest of the way in a total domination of the Panthers that ended in a 78-63 Bulldogs victory.
The Bulldogs made 13 3-pointers and were 13 of 36 (36% from beyond the arc), while Pitt shot only 38% from the floor.
Several times, the Panthers were able to get a run on offense, particularly by working the ball on offense to John Hugley, but could not sustain those runs with stops on defense.
Hugley finished with a career high 27 points to lead all scorers on 10 of 20 shooting. He also had 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Point guard Femi Odukale was the only other Pitt player with a notable offensive contribution. He scored 20 on 8 of 14 from the floor and added four rebounds and four assists. The whole rest of the Pitt team contributed just 14 points on 4 for 25 shooting.
Things will not get easier for Pitt, which will visit West Virginia on Friday.
Humiliation. This program is kind of a disgrace.
Big Mouth Jeff. Lots to yap about but refuses to run a respectable program. Fire this fool.
I’m not a fan of the job he’s doing or has done, but firing him after the first game would not be good for the program at all.
His leading scorer was arrested for car theft. One of his players punched a cop and used misogynistic language towards a woman. Yet Jeff really hasn’t said much. He’s an egotistical dope and can’t recruit or win. He’s a loser.
So you suggest firing him immediately? His brother would go with him and probably at least a few of the kids we have left playing with him to the transfer portal. Who knows if the other two assts. would want to stay. So basically we forfeit the season and go in complete rebuild and no solid coaching candidate would want to walk into that situation.
Favored by 10.5 and lose by 15, OUCH!
This program is in bad shape. He has to recruit better. This team consists of 2 starters and the rest are just bodies that would not even play at most schools. i know he was missing 3 guards but damn, not only can’t these guys shoot they cannot make free throws. When the guy who has the ball the most makes less than he makes, that is a recipe for a losing season.
So how long a leash does Capel have ? 3 seasons, 3 losing seasons, 3 last place or near last place conf finishes. Players bailing left & right, poor recruiting in 2 of the 4 classes and those that did come to Pitt….left before graduating. Which is also not good for Pitt’s athletic grad rate.