Pitt's Jeff Capel Sits Jaland Lowe Late vs. Clemson
PITTSBURGH -- Jeff Capel made a curious decision by benching Jaland Lowe in the closing minutes of the Pitt Panthers' tight loss to the Clemson Tigers.
After the game, Capel stated that he simply liked the way the Panthers' lineup played down the stretch without Lowe and didn't want to disrupt their rhythm.
"We liked the five that we had in there," Capel said. "They were playing well."
Lowe had played 26 minutes out of a possible 35 before being subbed out for the remainder of the contest at the 4:30 mark of the second half while Clemson held a 58-54 lead. He concluded his day with 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting to go with one assist and a plus-minus of -13, which was the lowest mark on the team.
When asked if Lowe was removed due to injury, Capel shut down any speculation immediately.
"No," Capel said.
While coming to his resolution, Capel likely recognized the need for more size against a talented Clemson frontcourt in addition to the fact that Bub Carrington and Ishmael Leggett, both strong defenders, were more productive than Lowe throughout the night.
Regardless, because Lowe has played a major part in facilitating the Panthers' offense and garnered impressive results since being inserted into the starting lineup in early January, it was unusual to not see him on the court in the run-up to the finish line of a must-win game.
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