Michalowski: Pitt Would Have the Talent to Compete in ACC with Full Lineup

On Wednesday night, with a commanding win at North Carolina, Pitt extended its season-long winning streak to three games, with two of the three wins coming on the road.

However, just nine days prior to the nine-point victory over the Tar Heels, it appeared as though the program was nearing rock bottom under Jeff Capel.

Just days after falling down by as much as 27 in a loss to Virginia Tech, the Panthers fell to the Hokies for a second-straight time, this time crashing to the tune of an embarrassing final score of 74-47. Pitt’s losing streak was up to a season-high four games.

But then, something clicked for Pitt. Something clearly changed when the Panthers traveled down to face one of the most dominant home court teams in the ACC in Florida State.

“Obviously, Ithiel [Horton] was outstanding all game,” Capel said after the Panthers’ five-point road win over the Seminoles. “Our guys found him, and he delivered and made shots. I am really glad I took Jerry’s advice last time and got him more minutes.”

Horton, for the first time all season, played more than 30 minutes for Pitt in the win at FSU. In 37 minutes of action, the sharp-shooter lived up to his reputation and drained seven three-pointers, five of which came in his triumphant 17-point second half showing. In a game in which Femi Odukale, Mo Gueye, and John Hugley combined for just 16 points, Horton was the guy who led the way in scoring for the first time since he had returned from his suspension.

The Panthers had found something that they had dearly missed.

Up next came NC State, who Pitt took down behind a 15-point second-half outburst from guess who? Horton once again. In that win, he scored 17 points in 39 minutes to pair with Jamarius Burton’s 17 and John Hugley’s 21 and carry the Panthers to the ‘W.’

“It helps a lot,” Hugley said about Horton being back on the court after the win over NC State. “It opens up the court more. If I am getting doubled, I just kick it out to him. If I am getting fronted help-side, I just skip it to IT corner. It all works out perfectly having him back.”

After that came Wednesday night’s winning effort, in which, for the first time all season, Pitt had five players score in double-digits. Horton, going 5 for 5 from three-point range and 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, paved the way with 19 points. Hugley, in a highly-anticipated matchup against UNC big man Armando Bacot, followed with 18 of his own. Then came Burton, Gueye, and Odukale, who added 14, 11, and 10 points, respectively. Pitt, especially in the first half, looked like a completely different team than the one that fell to Virginia Tech by 27 just nine days prior.

“Look, getting in rhythm is also our guys understanding how to play with him,” Capel said about Horton’s quest for comfort. “It doesn’t just happen, get an understanding of what a weapon he is for us, and that helps everyone. It helps Femi and JB on their penetration, it helps John inside, it helps Mo, and so just getting back into the rhythm of playing but also playing with us, and us with him. So all of those things. Again, he played 40 minutes tonight and he wasn’t tired. That is another great sign for us.”

The Panthers have now won each game in which Horton has played at least 30 minutes. In those games, he has clearly been the difference for a Pitt team that has been searching for weapons within itself all season, that is, ever since Horton’s suspension and guard Nike Sibande’s season-ending torn ACL. Had those two been with Pitt all year long? The Panthers would be competing near the top of the ACC.

First reason? Sibande’s scoring and shot-creating prowess, something this team has lacked all year.

In Pitt’s last five games of last season, Sibande, well-known for his explosive athleticism and offensive creativity, averaged 15 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists. A solid ball-handler, Sibande excels both on and off the ball, and would have been yet another blessing, like Horton has been, for this Pitt team. His ability to blow by defenders with pump fakes and dribble moves would pull defenses out, opening things up for the team’s star down low, Hugley. His crisp passing ability and his quickness would allow other guards, including Horton, to move without the ball and find open space. And above all, he would make this team look multi-dimensional. All year, it has been a story of mostly one, or maybe two players having good nights in Pitt’s wins. However, with Sibande out there, the team would have a new kind of depth and could throw out diverse lineups to use its stars to their best ability.

“I thought that it was within reach for us, especially when we got Ithiel back, and knowing that it was going to take him a little time to get in rhythm,” Capel said about the team’s recent growth. “But, we were close to being whole. That’s the main thing, the team that we felt that we would have at the beginning of the year before we started playing games. We had to get adjusted to who we were and it took a while when we were down two really, really talented guys. Two guys in the back court that we thought would be two of our better players. But we continued to battle, we got experience, we stayed together which is really huge, and as we have gotten close to whole, we are still not there, we won’t be, but this is as whole as we will be, we have gotten better because we’ve shown up and we’ve worked and we’ve put in the time and that is something hopefully we can continue to do.”

Next? The conference is down, and way down. Especially with how poor the ACC has been this season as a whole, the Panthers, with Sibande and Horton playing all year, would have a legitimate chance to contend in the top half of the conference.

Currently, they sit in tenth place out of fifteen teams, just two wins behind the No. 7 team in the conference. They have already beaten three of the teams ahead of them in the standings, and two of those wins have come with Horton back playing a big role. The Panthers have also fallen by five points or less five times in league play, with close losses by one-point to Virginia and Notre Dame, by three points to Louisville, and by five points to Virginia and Virginia Tech. In each of those losses, Pitt needed just a bit more. The fight was there, but the depth, the overall talent, and the points were not.

However, now, with Horton back, the Panthers have four players averaging at least 11 points per game, have picked up three-straight conference wins, and have shown flashes of what could have been.

Had Sibande and Horton been out there all season, as Pitt initially prepared for, they would have made a massive difference, and would have the Panthers in contention with the top teams in the ACC.