Takeaways: Pitt May Need New Rotations

The Pitt Panthers struggled with rebounding in their loss to Louisville.

Jan 7, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Pitt Panthers head coach Jeff Capel (right) talks to guard Jaland Lowe (15) during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images / Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers suffered their second straight loss on Saturday afternoon, losing to Louisville 82-78, struggling to rebound and make smart decisions.

Rebounding Struggles – Maybe it’s time for the Panthers to try different rotations

A big reason the Cardinals were the victors on Saturday is pretty simple — rebounding the basketball. The Cardinals grabbed 12 more offensive rebounds than the Panthers (17 to 5), scored 22 second-chance points compared to the Panthers' seven and totaled 13 more total rebounds than the Panthers (44-31).

Louisville’s domination rebounding the ball was eerily similar to what Wisconsin, Mississippi State and Duke have already done in wins over Pitt this season.

“The one common denominator in all four losses we’ve had is that we’ve got beaten pretty significantly on the glass,” Pitt head coach Jeff Capel said postgame. “And that’s an area where we have to change.”

The Panthers' leading rebounder in the loss on Saturday was graduate student guard Damian Dunn who grabbed eight rebounds. He also has his right hand taped up because he is still recovering from thumb surgery, which kept him out of the last seven games.

Typically, a team’s leading rebounder is from their frontcourt, and for the Panthers that hasn’t been the case for a large portion of this season. A member of the Panthers front court has led the team in rebounding just seven times out of the 16 games they've played this season.

Junior forward Cameron Corhen only averages 5.8 rebounds per game and fellow junior forward Guillermo Diaz Graham averages 5.7 rebounds. Both are respectable rebounding totals, but not the totals the Panthers need from the two players who play in the paint.

Redshirt freshman forward Papa Amadou Kante — who plays center sparingly for Pitt — averages 1.7 rebounds in his 7.6 minutes per game. 

From face value, that’s not impressive, but if Kante played the same amount of minutes as Corhen and kept the same production, he would average 6.6 rebounds per game — much closer to what the Panthers need from their center position. 

Maybe it’s time for Capel to start looking in other directions at the center position or lessen Corhen’s and Diaz Graham’s minutes.

Capel Makes Costly Coaching mistake

Capel did not have his finest coaching afternoon against Louisville on Saturday. He had one coaching blunder that could have changed the outcome of the game if he had chosen another choice of action.

His mistake was not having his team intentionally foul Louisville with 27 seconds left in the game. His team was down two points with a seven-second difference between the shot clock and the game clock.

Capel said postgame he didn't want to foul on that possession, likely because Louisville could go to the free throw line and make two straight free throws, pushing it a two-possession game. He trusted his team to make a stop instead.

But Capel should have taken this risk rather than trusting his defense. Louisville made eight of their last ten shots up to this point and had a rough day shooting from the free throw line, making a measly 46.7%.

And even if the Cardinals did make both free throws, the Panthers would have possessed the ball with at least 20 seconds left and had a chance to go for a quick two-pointer or hit a three-pointer.

The Panthers could then have forced a turnover from the timeout-less Cardinals or continue to play the fouling game against the 14th-best free throw shooting team in the ACC.

With fouling, Pitt extends the game and increases their chances of winning.

But Capel decided against fouling and trusted his defense to make a stop against the hot Louisville offense. This ended up hurting Pitt, as Louisville senior guard Chucky Hepburn scored a layup with eight seconds left, giving them an 82-78 win.

Pitt is Still Confident 

The loss to Louisville marks the longest losing streak for Pitt this season — two games. Pitt hopes to stop this streak and regroup as it travels down to Tallahassee, Florida for a battle against Florida State on Wednesday.

Losing streaks are disappointing, even short two-game losing streaks, but Capel is confident his team can end this streak and return to its winning ways.

“We have been good all year,” Capel said. “We played one of the best teams in the country on their home court and we played another outstanding team… I believe in our guys, I believe in what we can do. It’s not all doom and gloom right now, we certainly don’t feel that way.”

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

• Former Pitt DL Transfers to UNLV
• Former Pitt RB Transfers to Sacramento State
• WATCH: Pitt's Jeff Capel, Damian Dunn Address Louisville Defeat
• Pitt Falls in Close Matchup vs. Louisville
• Pitt Well-Represented in NFL Playoffs

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt