Pitt F Played Through Illness During Brooklyn Trip
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers' frontcourt was not at full strength as they traveled to Brooklyn for the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Barclays Center last week, head coach Jeff Capel revealed when they returned home having split their two games at the event.
Back-up center Guillermo Diaz Graham, an important piece of the rotation, was battling a serious illness to begin the week and it stuck with him all the way through the trip, Capel said, resulting in some understandably subpar results.
“Guillermo was really, really sick up in New York so I don’t think he played his best," Capel said. "After the game against Jacksonville in which he had his career-high, we were off Saturday, he got sick Saturday evening, didn’t practice Sunday, didn’t practice Monday and didn’t really do much on Tuesday because we traveled and practiced up there."
Diaz Graham was fresh off the first double-double of his career, during which he scored a career-high 23 points as well, when he fell ill. He was so sick that he couldn't eat much and had lost some weight as a result.
Diaz Graham, who entered the week averaging 10.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and one block per game while shooting 62.5% from the field in 18 minutes per night over four games to open the year, played just 31 total minutes and averaged 2.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 1-9 from the field over two games against Florida and Oregon State in Brooklyn.
The Panthers will hope he's rested enough since returning home over the weekend to be good to go for another big game in the ACC-SEC Challenge against Missouri at the Petersen Events Center on Tuesday night.
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