Pitt HC Jeff Capel Addresses Win Over Notre Dame

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers finally got their first victory of the month, as they took down Notre Dame, 73-68 at the Petersen Events Center.

Pitt had lost the past five games and gets just their 10th win of the season and third in the conference, as they make a late run at securing one of the last spots in the ACC Tournament.

The Panthers got some great production from freshman forward Roman Siulepa, 22 points to lead the team, plus sophomore guard Nojus Indrusaitis, who scored a career-high 17 points in the win over the Fighting Irish.

Pitt head coach Jeff Capel spoke on the victory in the ensuing press conference and what it means to get back to winning ways.

Jeff Capel Press Conference After Win Over Notre Dame

Opening Statement

“Proud of our guys. It was a great win for us, obviously we haven’t won in a while, but I thought we did some really good things on the court today that allowed us to win.

“I thought our defense in the first half was terrific and to be able to go into the half with the lead because of our defense was really, really good.

“I thought we defended the three really well today. Now they had some shots that they missed and they had some open shots that they missed, but for the most part, our attention to detail on their threes was pretty good and to hold those two kids, Shrewsberry and Certa, to 4-for-25 from three, that was a big part of our game plan.

“I thought we really moved the ball well in the second half with our execution, which led to some open shots and big plays.

“These two guys [Nojus Indrusaitis and Roman Siulepa] were terrific. Nojus, it was really good to see him play strong, make shots, play with confidence and then with Roman, continues to get better and made some huge plays. Not just the threes, but the offensive rebounds, looking ahead in transition, big free throws and then for Polo [Damarco Minor] at the end to miss those two, he’s our best free throw shooter and to step back up and make those.

Pitt Panthers forward Roman Siulepa — Feb 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers forward Roman Siulepa (13) dunks against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

“So really proud of the effort. Feels good to win and hopefully this is something we can build off of.”

Closing the game

“Well when they came back and took the lead, I loved how we responded. One of the things that we talked about was that we built the lead, think we were up 11 at one point and they walked us back down and we were able to push it back. I think we got it back to seven or eight and then they came back and took the lead.

“I thought we were strong in that moment, we didn’t panic, we really stepped up defensively, we started getting some defensive rebounds and really executing on offense.

“We had one play, where Cam [Corhen] made a great skip pass off of a ball screen. We hit him off of a short roll and our guards did a really good job of executing that. That was a part of our game plan as well. We knew that they are really aggressive on the ball screens and so we wanted to use Cam as more of a facilitator in that position and he made a great skip pass, I think it was to Nojus, right in front of our bench for a three.

“Just proud of how we executed offensively in the second half and when they made a run, we didn’t panic, we stayed strong and we were able to make some plays.

Nojus Indrusaitis Growing Pains

“I look at Nojus like a freshman. He didn’t play a lot of minutes last year and he was in a great program, but when you don’t play, the game reps are very different from what you’re doing in practice and he’s a young man that’s talented, but he gets down on himself like most freshman do, even though he’s a sophomore.

Pitt Panthers guard Nojus Indrusaitis — Feb 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Nojus Indrusaitis (25) celebrates with the student section after defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

“His teammates really believe in him. We as a coaching staff believe in him. Nojus has to believe in himself all the time. Not drop his head when he makes mistakes. This is a game of mistakes. You want to try to minimize the mistakes, but there’s not a perfect player, but to continue to play.

“My big thing with him always is to be strong. Play strong, have a strong face, strong defensively, not get down on yourself and it was good to see him do that this afternoon.

Dealing with A Short Rotation

“I thought they did a good job. I mean, we tried to push through and battle. For us to make those free throws down the stretch that we did and make some big plays down the stretch, it’s a testament to our guys and again, we have eight guys. That’s what we have and we’ll play eight.

“The way that we were playing today, we knew that we were going to switch all ball screens and DHOs. This wasn’t a game for the other two guys [Kieran Mullen and Macari Moore] to really get in and execute what we were trying to do defensively.

“And then knowing we were going to play through the post on those short rolls, this wasn’t a game for Kieran. He’s not ready for that yet, but those guys will be ready as we go on this west coast trip, be able to help us.”

Fast Break Advantage (23-1)

“It was, it could’ve been even more if we can rebound. We gave up 16 offensive rebounds and there was one stretch early in the second half when they got six offensive rebounds on a possession.

I think we showed this afternoon, when we did rebound, we were able to get back in transition and that allows us to play against a defense that’s not set.

“We knew that they were a heavy gap defensive team and really aggressive on the ball screen, but when you’re able to get in transition, you’re not able to get that set and so you can get some cross matches. When we were able to rebound, we were able to get out in transition and make some easy baskets.”

16 assists on 22 made baskets

“Like I said, I think in the second half we did a great job of moving it, of sharing it, of understanding exactly what we were looking for, what we were trying to get out of our offense and then our guys stepped up and made shots.”

3-point range shots

“We made some big plays and again a big part of that was Nojus. He made some big threes, Omari made a big step-back three, he’s not shot the basketball well, but he made a big one. Obviously Roman going 4-for-6. That’s something he’s really, really worked on.Thought he had a great week of working in practice.

Pitt Panthers guard Omari Witherspoon — Feb 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers guard Omari Witherspoon (8) drives to the basket against Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cole Certa (right) during the first half at the Petersen Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

“Our practices this week have been different because we had seven guys. Cam didn’t practice all week. With seven guys there’s not much you can do. Monday and Tuesday were straight skill work, individual work and I thought Roman and all of our guys, really did a great job of taking that seriously and trying to improve and then Thursday and Friday was more of the game prep for this game. Still with individual work and skill work, but proud of our guys for stepping up and making some shots.”

On a Difficult Season

“This has not gone anywhere near how any of us thought it would be and it’s been challenging, it’s been frustrating, it’s been hard, but the thing that I’m grateful for and I appreciate is that our guys have shown up and we’ve fought and we’ve battled in every game.

“There was only one game, in-conference, where we haven’t, and that was Louisville, but the other games, we fought, we battled and to lose five straight and these young guys deal with things very differently than I do, or maybe other adults.

“I can separate from it, I can get away from it, I know probably what’s out there, but they can’t. So for them to continue to show up with a great attitude and to try to work. As a coach, I’m grateful for that and I think it speaks to the culture we’ve built here. We’ve been thrown a lot of adversity this year and all of us will be better for it.

“The players will be better for it, we’ll learn a lesson. We’ll be better for it as coaches. We’re learning some lessons and we’ll use it all to help us get better as a team and as men.”

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