Pitt Took Control Against UT Martin with Defense

PITTSBURGH -- An influx of offensive talent headlined this offseason for the Pitt Panthers. Even without indefinitely suspended five-star freshman Dior Johnson, this Pitt team boasts the largest collection of skilled and complimentary offensive players head coach Jeff Capel has had under his roof at the same time since arriving in Pittsburgh.

Naturally, in the season opener against UT Martin, Pitt's improved offense was the centerpiece of an 80-58 win, but the catalyst for that victory was its defense.

Because, while the Panthers' limited success from last season came from dragging opponents down into slow games with point totals barely cracking 120, they were not a very good defensive team. They were good in spots but far from disciplined or cohesive enough to make it a consistently winning strategy. This game was a different story. Who knows if Pitt will be a tremendous defensive team this season, but they got off to a good start against the Skyhawks.

"I thought this is the best that we’ve played defensively since our group has been together," Capel said. "We’ve been working on it, and we displayed it tonight. I thought we followed the game plan, and I thought we played with incredible energy on that end."

The Panthers held to 17-43 shooting from the field and a 3-19 mark from 3-point distance. They forced 17 turnovers and scored 25 points off of them.

At the beginning of the second half, the Skyhawks used an 9-2 run to cut a 21-point deficit to 14 with 14:20 left to play. Three seconds later turned Blake Hinson over to get the ball back with a chance to trim Pitt's advantage to 11, the smallest margin since the 4:28 mark of the first half. But Pitt quickly shut the door, forcing two turnovers and a missed 3-pointer while making their next three shots to push the advantage back to north of 20.

Pitt was dominant in both the paint and on the perimeter. Fede Federiko, a 6'11 junior college transfer, started in place of the injured John Hugley and led a suffocating effort in the paint. UT Martin, clearly bothered by Federiko and the seven-foot Diaz-Graham twins, Jorge and Guillermo, shot just 1-3 on dunks and 10-28 on layups. As a team, they blocked 10 shots.

"I think a big reason is the guy to my left [Federiko]," Capel said. "I thought Federiko gave us energy to start the game defensively. His talk, his ball coverage, his rotations protecting the basket, I thought that kind of became contagious for everyone out there."

The most striking number from Pitt struggled in particular to defend the 3-point shot last season. They finished the year 323rd in 3-point defense but their 2022-23 debut was the first step in reversing that trend.

“Well, we contained penetration," Capel said. "That was the very first thing. I thought we understood the scouting report, and in doing that, we understood who the shooters were and who the guys that we can play off of a little bit [were]."

Pitt's success this season will still be dependent on their offense. If they want to compete with those in the top half of the league, they'll need to continue their efficient play on that end. But on the nights that shots aren't falling, the Panthers will need to do other things to keep themselves afloat - defense is one of them. Against UT Martin, Pitt proved it could and showed they have the makings of a complete basketball team.

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