(Photo: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
The headline: Brimming with energy on both ends of the court, Pitt overcame an 11-point second-half deficit and bounced back from the loss at Miami by beating Wake Forest 77-72 at the Petersen Events Center Wednesday night.
The teams: Pitt (13-8, 4-6 ACC) vs. Wake Forest (13-7, 5-4 ACC)
Game MVP - Will Jeffress: A guy with two points over two guys who scored 20+ each? Yep. That’s the kind of impact Jeffress had on Wednesday night. In the final 8:13, he guarded Efton Reid and held the Wake Forest center scoreless. Jeffress’ energy was infectious and his teammates fed off of it during that eight-minute stretch that saw them win the game.
Jeffress the pest: The basis of Jeffress’ game plan against Reid, seemingly, was simple - just be a pest. Unlike Federiko Federiko, who had guarded Reid prior that point, Jeffress was physical with Reid whether he had the ball or not. And it worked: Reid didn’t even attempt a field goal after Jeffress started defending him.
A familiar face: Reid is no stranger for anyone around Pitt basketball, after he shunned the Panthers as a recruit despite some serious interest. Reid made an impact from the start, backing down Federiko Federiko on two of Wake’s first three possessions and continuing that attack throughout the game whether he was facing Federiko or Guillermo Diaz Graham. Reid finished with a double-double - 14 points and 10 rebounds - but once he started getting guarded by Jeffress, he had zero points, three rebounds, two fouls and one turnover.
A unique lineup: A lot has been made of the three-guard lineup - and we’ll talk about that in a minute - but putting Jeffress in at the 8:13 mark created a pretty unique five: guards Jaland Lowe, Bub Carrington and Ishmael Leggett plus Jeffress and Blake Hinson at forward. That’s not something we’ve seen much from Pitt, and it certainly hasn’t been used for long stretches like it was on Wednesday night, when Jeff Capel deployed it for the final 8:13.
A long wait for the lead: Wake Forest scored first and led for the first 33 minutes of the game, as Pitt was able to force just a handful of ties in the early portion of the first half before falling behind by double digits for a considerable stretch. The Panthers didn’t take their first lead until Bub Carrington made two free throws for a 57-55 advantage with 6:58 on the clock.
There’s always a drought: For a team built to score, Pitt has a bad habit of going into offensive slumps, and it happened again on Wednesday night. After cutting Wake Forest’s lead to three at 15-12 in the first six minutes, the Panthers went cold. They missed eight shots in a row covering a stretch of more than five minutes, and while they made five of their next seven, they missed six in a row to finish the first half. Pitt made up for it by shooting 16-of-30 from the floor in the second half.
The Three-Guard Monte: In Pitt’s win at Georgia Tech and loss at Miami, the lineup of Jaland Lowe, Bub Carrington and Ishmael Leggett produced a 79-57 scoring advantage when it was on the court, and Jeff Capel went back to it on Wednesday night. Those three played together for a small chunk in the first half and then lined up together for the final 18:03; Pitt outscored Wake Forest 44-31 over that 18-minute stretch.
The scorers: Bub Carrington led all scorers in the game with a career-high 24 points. That was his second 20-point game of the season; the last came when he scored 20 in the loss against North Carolina on Jan. 2. Ishmael Leggett added 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 from three. Blake Hinson also scored 17 for Pitt.
The other scorers: Wake Forest was led by guard Hunter Sallis, who scored 22 points on 9-of-20 shooting, and Reid had 14 and 10.
A big set of offensive rebounds: Pitt missed 17 shots from the floor in the first half but didn’t record a single offensive rebound. In the second half, the Panthers had more success, including a big stretch when Lowe and Federiko each recorded an offensive board on the same possession, leading to a drive and basket by Leggett.
More on the offensive glass: After failing to record a single offensive rebound in the first half, Pitt grabbed nine offensive boards and scored 10 second-chance points.
Wake Forest’s three-point shot left the building: Wake Forest opened the game shooting three-of-three from beyond the arc, but the Deacons made just 3-of-19 the rest of the game.
Something new: Early in the second half, Federiko Federiko was awarded an and-1; that’s not unique. But what was unique was that Federiko got his basket via goaltending, for the rare goaltending and-1.
Up next: Pitt will be back on the court Saturday night when the Panthers host Notre Dame for a 6 pm tipoff.
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