PITTSBURGH — When the Pitt Panthers (10-2) welcomed the Sam Houston St. Bearkats (6-6) into the Petersen Events Center on Saturday, they did something that no other Panthers team did since Jeff Capel was hired as head coach in 2018. In the Panthers’ 110-78 win over the Bearkats, they set a school record for most points scored in a single game under Capel’s lead.
The Panthers have scored at least 100 points in three separate games during Capel’s tenure as Pitt’s head coach. Saturday’s blowout marked the first time this season that the Panthers eclipsed 100 points, but last year’s team did it twice, once in the season opener against NC A&T when they won 100-52 and the other a few weeks after that when they downed Jacksonville 107-56.
While the Panthers won in blowout fashion and made some history doing so, they also saw improvements from key players including Guillermo Diaz-Graham who Capel had to defend after a rough outing against Eastern Kentucky. In the win over EKU, Diaz-Graham recorded 0 points on 0-of-4 three-point shooting. While he did not light the score board up against the Bearkats, he did knock down two triples in route to 8 points.
For Diaz-Graham, his struggles piled up over the last few games for the Panthers and according to him, the more he tried, the worse things got. That is when he decided to take a step back during the team’s 10-day break which ultimately helped him refocus.
“I tried to work harder, and it didn’t work so I got great advice from a lot of people,” Diaz-Graham told reporters following the game. “They told me to stop worrying about it, to take a day off and then come back even harder and that is what I did. It is working so far.”
While Diaz-Graham scored just 8 points, the Panthers did not need him to do much else as they had five players score at least 10 points with four of them scoring 15 points or more. Ishmael Leggett and Zack Austin led the way as they scored 23 points apiece.
Austin’s 23 points are the most he scored in a game since he transferred to Pitt last season. In the win over the Bearkats, Austin shot 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-9 from three-point range. His eight field goals are his most in a single game this season and his five triples tie his season high.
His output against the Bearkats came with little surprise as it is how Austin’s season has shaped up to this point. He improved his three-point percentage all the way to 45% this season after shooting just 30% from behind the arc a season ago. Last year, Austin made just 28 total threes. This season, he has already nailed 22 of them through just 12 games.
While he has come off of the bench at times this season, Austin may end up as the team’s x-factor during the stretch run due to his three-point shooting and defensive ability.
“I think he has been playing well, period,” Capel said about Austin following the victory over the Bearkats. “All season long he has been playing well. He started out the season defensively, his blocked shots and things like that and he has settled into understanding his role on this team. [Austin] shot the ball at a consistent level; he played with great energy, and I thought he did some good things defensively. He is playing really well for us right now.”
The Panthers knocked down 16 threes against the Bearkats which is the third most in a single game in program history and overall, they shot 59% from the field and 52% from behind the arc.
“I think we are a pretty good shooting team,” Capel said. “We made 16 threes tonight. They all were in pretty good rhythm. I was pleased with how we started; we got off to a really good start. We have been flat the past few times starting basketball games, so I think we really got off to a good start. … The ball had energy, we passed it, had 23 assists so that was really, really good.”
Of course, the last two games for the Panthers came against lesser opponents but after their embarrassing loss to Mississippi St. on Dec. 4, the Panther needed some “tune-up” games to get back into form before the bulk of ACC play arrives.
Despite playing their first game after a 10-day hiatus, the Panthers now enter another long break in action as they do not return to play until New Year’s Day when they take on Cal in their second conference showdown of the season.
